Introduction

As every year,[1] we have taken a closer look at the statistics that are available for arbitration proceedings at some of the most important arbitral institutions.[2]

Over the last four years, the picture has always been the same: the number of proceedings was rising – in Europe, in the Americas as well as in Asia. This picture seems to have changed in 2021: some institutions have achieved new records, such as the ICSID. However, most of the institutions did not achieve new records, despite having had a good year. The number of new cases has dropped at the ICC, SCC, SIAC, HKIAC, DIS.

Do we see a turning point or a ceiling? Probably not. The numbers remain impressively high. Arbitration proceedings remain very popular as the following table shows:

Caseload numbers


Arbitral institution 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) 853 946 869 842 810 966 801 791 767 759
ICSID (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes) 66 58 39 56 53 48 52 38 40 50
SCC (Stockholm Chamber of Commerce) 165 213 175 152 200 199 181 183 203 177
LCIA (London Court of International Arbitration) 377 440 395 317 285 303 326 300 301 277
SIAC (Singapore International Arbitration Centre) 469 1080 479 402 452 343 271 222 259 235
HKIAC (Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre) 277 318 308 265 297 262 271 252 260 293
CAM-CCBC (Chamber of Commerce Brazil-Canada) 128 105 97 101 141 98 112 95 90 64
DIS (German Arbitration Institute) 133 162 110 153 152 166 134 132 121 125
VIAC (Vienna International Arbitration Centre) 44 40 45 64 43 60 40 56 56 70
SCAI (Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution) 86 83 95 81 74 81 96 106 69 92
ICDR (International Centre for Dispute Resolution) n/a n/a 882 993 1026 1050 1063 1052 1165 996
CIETAC (China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission) 4071 3615 3333 2962 2298 2181 1968 1610 1256 1060
PCA (Permanent Court of Arbitration) 205 59 49 56 41 40 42 39 35 27
KCAB (Korean Commercial Arbitration Board) 500 405 443 393 385 381 413 382 338 360
JCAA (The Japan Commercial Arbitration Association) 15 – – – – – – – –
TOTAL 7389 7524 7319 6837 6257 6178 5770 5258 4960 4585

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Other relevant data

As every year, we have also collected some additional data.

Even though some airports or borders closed because of Covid-19, the share of international cases stayed high. The LCIA lead the field with 95%, followed by the SIAC, SCAI, and the HKIAC, which rose back to its 2019 level of more than 80% of international cases.

The applications for emergency arbitration increased in SCC, LCIA, and SIAC proceedings. On the other hand, the figures dropped 70% in HKIAC proceedings and 25% in SIAC proceedings.

The number of applications for expedited increased in LCIA, SIAC, and SCAI proceedings, but dropped in SCC and HKIAC proceedings.

The number of arbitrator challenges remains low: in most institutions, there were less than 5 arbitrator challenges. The highest number was in SCC proceedings: 18 challenges.

Particularly important is the data on gender diversity. Here, the picture does not seem to be further improving. The overall percentage of female arbitrators stagnates at around 20-25% (similar to the 25,4% in 2020 and the 23,6% in 2019). The percentage is as low as 4% in JCAA proceedings and 13% in ICSID proceedings. The number of female tribunal members in VIAC arbitrations decreased from 31,7%in 2020 to 16,4% in 2021. The arbitral institutions continue to be the driving force behind appointing female arbitrators, e.g. 77% of the arbitrators appointed by SCAI were female.

The parties’ preferred nationality of arbitrators remained mostly unchanged, the only outlier being the KCAB, which became more international.


ICC ICSID SCC LCIA SIAC HKIAC CAM-CCBC DIS VIAC SCAI CIETAC PCA KCAB JCAA
Amount in dispute n/a n/a EUR 840 million n/a USD 6.54 billion USD 7 billion BRL 5.6 billion (~ USD 1.05 billion) EUR 1.57 billion EUR 554.17 million CHF 1.27 billion (~ USD 1.35 billion) RMB 112.13 billion (~ USD 17 billion) n/a USD 717 million JPY 9 billion (~ USD 65 million)
International arbitrations n/a n/a 47% 95% 86% 81,6% n/a 35% n/a 81% 20.4% n/a 10% 93%
Emergency arbitration applications n/a n/a 7 8 15 4 2 n/a n/a 4 n/a n/a n/a None
Expedited procedure applications n/a n/a 49 49 93 23 n/a n/a n/a 33 n/a n/a n/a 3
Arbitrator challenges n/a n/a 18 18 1 4 3 n/a n/a 3 28 [9] n/a n/a 1
Percentage of female arbitrators n/a 13% 29% 13% 35,8% 12,7% (appointed by the parties), 21,8% (appointed by the HKIAC) 34,3% (in Tribunals); 71,4% (in Sole Arbitration) n/a 16,4% 22% (appointed by the parties), 77% (appointed by the SCAI) n/a n/a 23,7% 4%
Arbitrator nationality (top 3) n/a 1. USA (9.63%) 2. France (9.51%) 3. UK (8,45%) 1. Europe (95,27%) 2. North American (3,63%) 3. Northern Asia (0,727%) 1. UK (63%)
2. Canada (n/a)
3. USA (n/a)		 1. Singapore (31,27%) 2. UK (29,65%) 3. Australia (7,28%) Appointed by the HKIAC: 1. Hong Kong (27,5%) 2- UK (19,7%) 3. Australia (10,6%) n/a n/a 1. Austria (39,7%) 2. Switzerland (20,7%) 3. Hungary (6,9%) 1. Switzerland (77%) 2. France (5,5%) 3. UK (3,4%) n/a n/a 1. Korea (37,3%) 2. USA (16,2%) 3. UK (10,3%) 1. Japan (60.9%) 2. Austria (8.7%) 3. Singapore (8.7%)

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Conclusion

Last year, we remarked “how well arbitration has fared in 2020 despite the extreme circumstances”. Although the caseload slightly decreased in 2021, the institutions still had a very busy year. Regarding specific data, such as the number of applications for expedited proceedings and the number of arbitrator challenges, there was not a clear trend. With regards to diversity, there is a stagnation: there was neither a shift in the parties’ preferred nationalities, nor a rise in numbers of female arbitrators.

[1] Statistics for 2020, 2019, 2018, 2016, 2015.

[2] ICC, ICSID, SCC, LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, CAM-CCBC, DIS, VIAC, SCAI, ICDR, CIETAC, PCA, KCAB, JCAA.

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