ICC Rules of Arbitration

ICC Rules of Arbitration
Name	ICC Rules of Arbitration
Type	Rules
Founded	1923
Founder	International Chamber of Commerce
Location	Paris

Contents

ICC Rules of Arbitration is the procedural code administered by the International Chamber of Commerce for resolving international commercial disputes through arbitration involving parties from jurisdictions such as United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and China. The Rules interface with institutions and instruments like the International Court of Justice, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the World Trade Organization, the New York Convention, and the United Nations to shape cross-border dispute resolution among corporations, states, and investors including entities from Japan, Brazil, India, and Russia.

Overview

The Rules structure arbitral proceedings administered by the International Court of Arbitration (ICC), guiding interactions among parties such as Siemens, Samsung, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and Toyota and practitioners from firms like Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Clifford Chance, Baker McKenzie, White & Case, and Linklaters. They reflect procedural models influenced by cases and doctrines arising in forums like the European Court of Human Rights, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and arbitral awards involving parties such as TotalEnergies, Chevron, Glencore, Rio Tinto, and Microsoft.

The Rules apply where parties have agreed to ICC arbitration either through contracts referencing institutions like ICC International Court of Arbitration or via post-dispute submissions, involving legal frameworks such as the New York Convention, the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, national statutes like the Arbitration Act 1996 (England and Wales), the Federal Arbitration Act (United States), and codes applied in jurisdictions including Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Brazil. They govern disputes involving subject matter connected to entities like World Bank, International Monetary Fund, ExxonMobil, Honda, and BASF and intersect with treaties such as the Energy Charter Treaty, the Paris Agreement, and bilateral investment treaties like United States–China Investment Treaty.

Provisions cover initiation, terms of reference, joinder, consolidation, and multi-contract disputes, as seen in matters involving Shell Oil Company, Alstom, Siemens AG, Glencore International, and Vale. Procedures address confidentiality practices, document production, witness statements, expert reports, hearings, and the form and content of awards, with parallels to practices in cases before the European Court of Justice, Court of Arbitration for Sport, ICC International Court of Arbitration, and panels under the World Trade Organization.

Tribunals are constituted by arbitrators appointed or confirmed by the ICC Court of Arbitration, often drawn from eminent practitioners such as former judges of the European Court of Human Rights, the Supreme Court of the United States, the Cour de cassation (France), the Bundesgerichtshof (Germany), and academics associated with institutions like Harvard Law School, University of Oxford, Université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas, Yale Law School, and National University of Singapore. The Rules set standards for impartiality, independence, challenge, and replacement of arbitrators in disputes involving parties such as Mitsubishi, Iberdrola, Eni, Total, and Gazprom.

The Rules incorporate emergency procedures and requests for provisional measures, enabling interim relief akin to measures available in national courts such as the Cour de cassation (France), the High Court of Justice (England and Wales), the United States Court of Appeals, and the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, and in investor–state proceedings under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. The emergency arbitrator mechanism has been used in disputes involving entities like Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Alibaba to preserve assets, evidence, and rights pending constitution of the tribunal.

Costs provisions allocate administrative expenses, registry fees, arbitrator fees, and party costs with methods comparable to awards and costs decisions in tribunals such as the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and national courts including the Cour d'appel de Paris, the New York Supreme Court, and the High Court of Singapore. The Rules provide for final awards, partial awards, correction, interpretation, and enforcement consistent with instruments like the New York Convention and national enforcement frameworks in jurisdictions including Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden.

Since their inception, editions have been updated to address developments in arbitration practice, with notable revisions influencing users such as ArcelorMittal, Boeing, Airbus, Volkswagen, and Hyundai and interacting with reforms promulgated by bodies like the International Bar Association, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the International Law Commission, and national legislative reforms in England and Wales, Singapore, Switzerland, and France.