Neutrality Neutrality of the forum is an important difference between international arbitration and international litigation. Although judges in litigation are expected to be impartial and are thus neutral in that sense, the reference to neutrality in the context of international disputes concerns the nationality of the decision maker. In international litigation the judge is likely to have the same nationality as one of the parties. The mere perception that the judge shares an important characteristic, nationality, with one of the parties may of itself be enough to cause concern to the other party. In international arbitration sole arbitrators will almost invariably be of a different nationality to the parties.