ICC Arbitration Posts Strong Growth in 2015

gavelParis, May 11, 2016 – The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has announced strong growth in 2015—underscoring the ICC Court’s position as the world’s leading arbitral institution.

The Court recorded the second highest number of new cases in its 93-year history, with some 801 cases filed over the course of 2015. New cases administered by the Court involved a total of 2,283 parties—with multiparty disputes accounting for more than 30% of the total new caseload for the first time.

New records were set in 2015 for the average value of new ICC disputes and the aggregate value of cases before the Court. The average monetary value in dispute in new ICC cases rose to $84 million from $63 million in 2014—with the largest dispute valued at over $1 billion. The aggregate value of all disputes pending before the Court at the end of the year stood at $286 billion.

The disputes submitted to the ICC Court in 2015 covered a broad range of sectors. Construction and engineering disputes accounted for a quarter of all cases received during the year, while energy disputes made up just under 20 percent of all new cases. Thirteen percent of cases filed in 2015 involved state or state-owned entities.

Commenting on the release of these results, President of the ICC Court Alexis Mourre said: “In a fiercely competitive market, the ICC Court continues to enjoy strong growth throughout the world. Our 2015 results show that the ICC Court is increasingly seen as the go-to institution for complex and high-value disputes.”

SICANA provides ICC arbitration and other ICC dispute resolution services in North America. USCIB’s Arbitration Committee promotes ICC arbitration services as an expeditious and economical means of settling commercial disputes, with several subcommittees located all over North America.

Cases filed in 2015 involved parties from 133 countries and independent territories worldwide—far outstripping the global reach of any other commercial arbitration institution. Parties from the United States remained the most numerous, while a significant rise was seen in parties from Australia, China and the United Arab Emirates.

In a landmark move, ICC has for the first time disclosed statistics on the gender balance of ICC tribunals. Women arbitrators represented just over 10% of all appointments and confirmations in 2015—and were more frequently appointed or confirmed as co-arbitrators (43%) than they were as sole arbitrators (32%) or tribunal presidents (25%). The statistics show that parties were less likely to select women arbitrators than the ICC Court.

About USCIB:
USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world. With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including BIAC, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More information is available at www.uscib.org.

Contact:
Jonathan Huneke,
VP communications, USCIB
+1 212.703.5043 or jhuneke@uscib.org

Staff Contact:   Nancy Thevenin

General Counsel
Tel: 212.703.5047

Nancy Thevenin supports the USCIB Arbitration Committee and coordinates the work of the U.S. Nominations Committee. She works closely with USCIB’s Business Development team in ensuring a more comprehensive policy, legal and arbitration membership outreach to both law firms and corporations. Thevenin previously served as deputy director of the ICC Court of Arbitration’s North American marketing office. During her tenure, the group helped launch the ICC International Mediation Competition and developed USCIB Young Arbitrators Forum (YAF), with Thevenin drafting the proposal for the ICC to make YAF a global organization. Nancy then joined Baker & McKenzie as a special counsel in and global coordinator of their International Arbitration Practice Group. She left Baker in 2014 to start her own practice as arbitrator and mediator and continues to teach the spring semester international commercial arbitration course at St. John’s Law School.
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