More advantages of arbitration

Speed

Arbitral tribunals usually take less time than national courts to reach a final decision, against which recourses are restricted. .

The Court monitors deadlines from start to finish. The Court has the power to step in and replace arbitrators on the rare occasions that they fail to fulfill their obligations. If the parties agree on a fast-track arbitration, cases can be decided within a few months.

National courts are often congested. They may need between three and five years to resolve a dispute, sometimes even longer.

Cost-effective

The relative speed of arbitration compared with litigation keeps lawyers' costs down. Parties generally pay less in the long run for arbitration than if they take their case to national courts.

If you are worried about arbitrators dragging out proceedings to pad their fees, forget it. The Court sets ICC fees according to a fixed scale, primarily based on the amount in dispute. Wasting time is not in the arbitrators' financial interest.

You can get a rough idea of what you will have to spend by using the cost calculator on the Court website. Simply enter the amount in dispute to receive an estimate of administrative and arbitrator fees, which are set by the Court.

Factors like the place of arbitration and the number of arbitrators influence expenses and may affect the final bill. So your own choices can also keep costs down.

Accessible

ICC arbitration is there for everybody in business. It is accessible to companies of all sizes, not just major corporations in the industrialised countries. Arbitration fits all legal systems and cultures. No one national legal tradition predominates.

Make ICC arbitration come to you.

Confidential

The Court respects your privacy. In contrast with ordinary courtroom proceedings under public and media gaze, ICC does not divulge details of an arbitration case and keeps the identities of the parties completely confidential. So your business remains nobody else's business. Sometimes, of course, parties will publicize an award – but ICC's lips are always sealed. If you wish, you may also enter into a confidentiality agreement with the opposing party as an additional safeguard.

Enforceable awards

ICC arbitration is impartial and respects the dispute settlement parameters set down in the original contract or agreed by the parties. Arbitrators will provide a clear solution.

In the great majority of cases, parties accept the award spontaneously and there the matter ends. But when parties decide on the place of arbitration, they are well advised to make sure that they choose a country that favours arbitration and court enforcement of arbitral awards.

Many bilateral and international conventions recognize arbitral awards. More than 140 countries have adopted the 1958 New York Convention, which provides for the enforcement of foreign awards in those countries that have ratified the Convention.