Arbitration, in its essence, is a non-court option. In arbitration, there is party autonomy, thus parties can make decisions on the arbitral tribunal or arbitrator, the language of the proceeding, the seat of the arbitration, other procedural matters, and especially whether to choose an institution or pursue ad hoc arbitration.
Ad hoc arbitration is defined as parties and the arbitral tribunal deciding on all procedural matters without the interference of an institution. However, pursuing ad hoc arbitration may cause the proceeding's duration to extend and be more complex than it needs. Because of institutional arbitration with its secretariat and administrative rules, it is easier to focus on proceeding itself.
All institutions have their own rules which make proceeding easier.
International Chamber of Commerce ("ICC")
ICC, which is established in 1923, focuses on generally international commercial and investment arbitration. It is one of the most renowned arbitration centers. Also, The ICC Arbitration Rules and their implementation is simple, like most institutional rules. Additionally, the ICC Rules of Arbitration entered into force as of January 1st, 2021.
According to the early statistics revealed by ICC, there were 853 new cases filed before the ICC in 2021. 13 of the cases were filed under the Rules of ICC as appointing authority and the rest (840 cases) were filed under ICC Arbitration Rules. However, in 2020, there were more cases (946) than in 2021.
Claudia Salomon became the first female President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration.
London Court of International Arbitration ("LCIA")
LCIA was established in 1982. LCIA focuses on commercial arbitration, but also, 26% of the cases are related to banking and finance, %25 was related to energy and resources, 14% were transport and commodities, and the rest is related to various other matters.
In 2021, according to the statistics by LCIA, 387 cases were filed before the LCIA. Although the caseload statistics show more filing in 2020, in 2021 LCIA showed the institution worked hard. The LCIA was renamed several times, yet, its success was consistent.
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID")
ICSID is one of the five organizations of the World Bank Group, it was established in 1966 by the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of the Other States or the ICSID Convention. As the name suggests, ICSID deals with mainly investment arbitration.
According to statistics by ICSID, 70 new cases were filed before the ICSID, and 332 cases were administered in 2021. 63% of the cases are related to bilateral investment agreements and the second-highest matter in dispute is related to the Energy Charter Treaty.
Additionally, as regards the 2021 statistics, 31% of overall appointments by ICSID and the parties were women and 69% of them were men.
Istanbul Arbitration Center ("ISTAC")
Istanbul Arbitration Center was established after the Istanbul Arbitration Center Arbitration Law dated 20.11.2014 and numbered 6570 was published in the Official Gazette dated 29.11.2014 and numbered 29190.
ISTAC adapted to COVID-19 rather quickly with tech-related solutions to problems that arose from the pandemic. ISTAC reported in 2020, that 100% of the hearings were made online and made the administrative process digital. With another innovative approach, with a quick survey on the ISTAC's website, an arbitration clause can be customized.
According to the statistics provided by ISTAC, in 2021, 24% of all the disputes brought before the ISTAC are related to information technologies law and the second-highest subject matter is sales contracts with 8%.
Energy Disputes Arbitration Center ("EDAC")
EDAC is the arbitration center established under the Energy Law Research Institute, which focuses on energy and infrastructure law. Being one of the youngest arbitration centers, EDAC was established in 2020 in Turkey.
Hong Kong International Arbitration Center ("HKIAC")
HKIAC was established in 1985 by a group of business professionals in order to fulfill the need for dispute resolution services in Asia. HKIAC focuses on arbitration, mediation, and also domain name dispute resolution.
In 2021, 514 new cases were registered to HKIAC, 225 of the cases were domain name disputes. Also, 81.6% of all arbitration cases filed before the HKIAC in 2021 were international in nature. And finally, there are 162 cases registered under Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
One of the problems in arbitration, with the confidentiality o the proceedings, generally, decisions related to commercial disputes are not published to the public. Nonetheless, HKIAC solved the problem and created a database for the decisions which are anonymized. In 2022 Paris Arbitration Week, HKIAC Case Digest won the GAR Award for Best Innovation. Additionally, HKIAC launched a case management platform named HKIAC Case Connect which allows parties and arbitrators to access files and take necessary actions with a secure platform.
WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center ("WIPO")
World Intellectual Property Organization is an international organization for intellectual property services which includes also dispute resolution. WIPO is an agency of the United Nations. WIPO Convention established WIPO in 1967, and there are 193 member states.
The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center offers alternative dispute resolution services internationally which are arbitration, mediation, expedited arbitration, and expert determination. Since WIPO is an organization that specialized in IP and tech-related disputes, the majority of the matters in dispute are related to trademarks, patents, designs, software licensing, mobile apps, and much more.
WIPO also provides domain name dispute resolution services under the UDRP. In 2021, there were 5128 domain name case filings in regard to country code top-level domain names (ccTLDs) and generic top-level domain names (gTLD).
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