One of the essential features of arbitration that distinguishes it from litigation is the parties’ right to appoint arbitrators. So what happens if one of the arbitrators selected by the parties dies or is unable to proceed further with the arbitration hearings? Timur Aitkulov, Dmitry Malukevich and Anna Nikulina, of Clifford Chance CIS report on a recent decision of the Supreme Arbitrazh Court of the Russian Federation that tackled this question