International Commercial Arbitration Research Guide

Dozens of institutions specializing in the resolution of cross-border disputes administer international commercial arbitrations. These institutions typically provide a neutral set of procedural rules, maintain a roster of qualified arbitrators, resolve challenges to the selection of arbitrators, and provide space for holding hearings. 

Listed below are links to the websites of some of the most prominent arbitral institutions, as well as electronic and print resources for accessing arbitration rules.

• Online Directory of Arbitral Institution Websites
• Quick Links to Selected Arbitral Institution Websites
• Online Access to Arbitration Rules Issued by Multiple Institutions
   

Online Directory of Arbitral Institution Websites

The most comprehensive listing of arbitral institutions worldwide is the Arbitral Institutions Directory maintained by the International Council for Commercial Arbitration. Browse alphabetically or by country.  Alternatively, enter the name of a known abitral institution in the search box.
 

Quick Links to Selected Arbitral Institution Websites

Listed below are links to the websites of some of the most prominent arbitral institutions.  Most of these institutions post current and prior editions of their procedural rules on their websites, which may be downloaded in PDF format without charge.

• Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC)
• Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA)
• China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC)
• Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) (Lausanne)
• European Court of Arbitration (ECA) (Strasbourg)
• Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC)
• International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) (American Arbitration Association, New York)
• International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) (Paris)
• Judicial Arbitration & Mediation Services (JAMS) International (London)
• London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
• Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) (The Hague)
• Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA) (Geneva and Zurich)
• United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
  UNCITRAL publishes a widely used set of arbitration rules but does it not administer commercial arbitrations.
• Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC)
• WIPO Arbitration & Mediation Center (World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva)

Online Access to Arbitration Rules Issued by Multiple Institutions

The subscription-based resources described below provide online access to current (and sometimes also superseded) arbitration rules issued by multiple arbitral institutions.  Jus Mundi and Kluwer Arbitration offer the broadest coverage.  Westlaw's coverage is more selective.

• Jus Mundi
  To browse, select "Rules" as the content type below the search box.  After the page refreshes, use the filters on the right to narrow by type of rules, abitral institution, and date of adoption.  To search within the full texts of arbitration rules, enter your search terms in the search box at the top of the page after first selecting "Rules" as the content type.
   
• Kluwer Arbitration
  To browse, select "Organizations" from the "Our Tools" menu on the main menu bar near the top of the homepage.  Then select the desired arbitral institution from the alphabetical list.  To search within the full texts of arbitration rules, click on the two horizontal bars on the left side of the search box to display the search filters.  Then select "Rules" as the Content Type.  If desired, use the Organization filter to limit the search to rules issued by one or more arbitral institutions.
   
• Westlaw
  Westlaw offers procedural rules from two dozen international arbitral institutions.  Select the rules of the desired arbitral institution from the alphabetical list.  To search across the full texts of rules issued by all of the institutions listed, enter search terms in the search box at the top of the page.

Comparative Chart of International Arbitration Rules
The law firm of Baker & McKenzie maintains this interactive comparative chart, which enables users to quickly compare the arbitration rules issued by 16 leading arbitral institutions on more than a dozen criteria.  Information about costs and fees, based on the amount of money in dispute, also is provided for each institution.