28 U.S.C. § 655
Section 655 · Arbitrators
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 18 court decisions — leading case Hays and Company v. Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc (1989)
Most recently applied in 894 F. Supp. 2d 493 - Delaware Coalition for Open Government v. Strine (August 2012)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Powers of Arbitrators.—An arbitrator to whom an action is referred under section 654 shall have the power, within the judicial district of the district court which referred the action to arbitration—
(1) to conduct arbitration hearings;
(2) to administer oaths and affirmations; and
(3) to make awards.
(b) Standards for Certification.—Each district court that authorizes arbitration shall establish standards for the certification of arbitrators and shall certify arbitrators to perform services in accordance with such standards and this chapter. The standards shall include provisions requiring that any arbitrator—
(1) shall take the oath or affirmation described in section 453; and
(2) shall be subject to the disqualification rules under section 455.
(c) Immunity.—All individuals serving as arbitrators in an alternative dispute resolution program under this chapter are performing quasi-judicial functions and are entitled to the immunities and protections that the law accords to persons serving in such capacity.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1998—Pub. L. 105–315 amended section generally, substituting provisions relating to arbitrators for provisions relating to trial de novo.