In Strabo we find the Druids still acting as arbiters in public and private matters, but they no longer deal with cases of murder.
The deed of submission first defines the terms of the reference, the name or names of the arbiters or arbitrators, and the "oversman" or umpire, whose decision in the event of the arbiters differing in opinion is to be final.
Formerly, where no oversman was named in the submission, and no power given to the arbiters to name one, the proceedings were abortive if the arbiters disagreed, unless the parties consented to a nomination.
Under the common law of Scotland, a submission of future disputes or differences to an arbiter, or arbiters, unnamed, was ineffectual except where the agreement to refer did not contemplate the decision of proper disputes between the parties but the adjustment of some condition, or the liquidation of some obligation, contained in the contract of which the agreement to submit formed a part.
Under any circumstances, neither the training nor the position of judges is such as to make them fit to be the final arbiters of political disputes.