Should the law follow the practice, or should the practice abide to the law? Although the answer to this provocative question may seem obvious (what is the value of a practice that does not comply with the law after all?), the question of the impartiality of the arbitrators and its treatment in domestic legislation requires further reflection. In a previous post I wrote about how, sometimes, the analysis of arbitral proceedings by judges, accustomed to dealing with rather different subjects, does not reflect the actual practice of a country or a professional sector, but rather its textbook version – as such, purified from its local peculiarities and sterilized from any cultural influences. As we have learned from our interviews, there are countries – especially in Northern Europe – in which the concepts of independence and impartiality of the arbitrators are to be considered in its absolute sense – that is, the link between an arbitrator and the party that appointed them consists mere...