Arbitral Institution Stats 2024

Several of the key arbitral institutions have published their statistics for 2023. In this blog post we highlight some of the key trends:

an increase in the use of arbitration generally, with several of the institutions reporting a strong increment in case referrals, and in the quantum of cases;
the growing internationality of cases, with a doubling of African parties in LCIA arbitrations in particular;
a spike in disputes arising from "younger" agreements, meaning those agreements concluded within two or three years of the date of referral; and
an increase across the board in the appointment of female arbitrators, particularly driven by the institutions themselves with the SCC leading the charge with 55% of its arbitration appointments being women, the LCIA 48% and the ICC 41%.

LCIA Statistics

On 31 May 2024, the LCIA shared its Annual Casework Report 2023. Some of the key statistics highlighted in the report are as follows:

Number of referrals: the LCIA reported a strong increase in the number of referrals, up by 13% from 333 cases in 2022 to 377.
Industry sectors: transport and commodities cases continue to dominate the LCIA's caseload, making up 36% of cases, which the LCIA attributed this to "the ongoing impact of global developments on energy prices and supply chains". Runner-ups were banking & finance (16% of cases) and energy & resources (14% of cases).
Younger agreements: the LCIA reported a sharp increase in disputes involving agreements concluded within the two years before the year of referral. Almost half of the agreements in 2023 referrals were such "younger" agreements. Interestingly, and perhaps unsurprisingly considering the point made above, almost half of the "younger" agreements were sale of goods contracts, mostly involving commodities.
Quantum of cases: there has been a noticeable increase in the quantum of cases, with almost 30% of quantified claims being over USD 20m, compared to 19% in 2022.
Parties' nationalities: 96% of cases involved international parties; 79% of cases did not involve UK parties; only 17% involved one or more UK party; and only 4% involved only UK parties. The percentage of parties from Africa has doubled since 2022 (up from 4% to 8%), with a significant two-thirds decrease in Asian parties (from 24% to 8%).
Seats and governing law: there were proportionally fewer English seats (86% in 2023 versus 88% in 2022) and cases with English governing law (83% in 2023 versus 85% in 2022) as parties mix and match applicable law and seat more frequently.
Interim relief: parties made 58 applications for interim measures pursuant to Article 25 of the LCIA Rules, involving 43 arbitrations. Security for costs was the most common. Relief was granted in 14 instances only; rejected in 21; partially granted in five; and 18 were superseded or are pending.
Challenges: there continue to be a very low (five in 2023) number of challenges. The LCIA attributes this to its "robust appointment system, where disclosures are dealt with efficiently and transparently".
Diversity in appointments: gender diversity in appointments is improving all round, with the LCIA Court leading the charge. In LCIA Court appointments, 48% are of women (45% in 2022), 39% of all co-arbitrator appointments are of women (23% in 2022), and 21% of all party appointments are of women (from 19% in 2022). The LCIA called for more input from parties and co-arbitrators to improve the overall percentage of appointments of women (33%).

ICC Statistics

On 24 June 2024, the ICC shared its ICC Dispute Resolution Statistics: 2023. Some of the key statistics highlighted in the report are as follows:

Number of referrals: there were 890 new cases in 2023 (of which 870 were under the ICC Rules), the third highest number in its history (after 966 in 2016 and 946 in 2020).
Use of expedited procedure: a record 189 new cases were administered under the Expedited Procedure Provisions (EPP), because of the automatic application of the EPP in 174 cases and the parties' agreement in 15 cases.
Industry sectors: dominant sectors remained construction/engineering and energy, which together represented just over 45 % of all new cases in 2023.
Quantum of cases: close to 40% of new cases had a quantum not exceeding USD 3 million (i.e., the threshold value for the automatic application of the EPP where the arbitration agreement was entered into after 1 January 2021). The quantum varied significantly from one case to another from below USD 2,000 to over USD 6 billion.
Parties' nationalities: as in previous years, European parties represented approximately 40% of the total party population and 25% of all parties came from Asia and the Pacific. Parties from the Americas accounted for 27% of the overall number of parties.
Seats and governing law: the top five countries selected as the seat were (in descending order) France, the UK, Switzerland, the United States and Brazil. As in previous years, English law was the most frequently selected governing law, followed for the first time by Swiss law.
Emergency arbitrators: 28 emergency arbitrator applications were filed and 27 emergency arbitrator order made. Of these, the emergency measure requested was granted in three; partially granted in nine; and dismissed in 13.
Diversity in appointments: women arbitrators represented 29,7% of the total confirmations and appointments in 2023 (28.6% in 2022). Of these, 47% were nominated by the parties, 37% were appointed by the ICC Court, and 16% were nominated by the co-arbitrators. Of all the ICC Court's appointments 41% were women.

SIAC Statistics

On 29 April 2024, the SIAC shared its 2023 Annual Report. Some of the key statistics highlighted in the report are as follows:

Number of referrals: SIAC recorded its second highest ever caseload with 663 new cases filed, of which 640 SIAC-administered.
Younger agreements: disputes arising from contracts entered into in the previous 3 years accounted for 47.1% of new case filings.
Use of expedited procedure: SIAC received 94 requests for the expedited procedure (EP), of which 41 requests were accepted. SIAC has received a total of 896 EP applications (and accepted 514 requests) since the introduction of these provisions in 2010.
Industry sectors: the trade sector accounted for 47% of all new cases, followed by commercial (14%) and maritime/shipping (13%).
Quantum of cases: 2023 recorded the second highest total sum in dispute of USD 11.90 billion (SGD 15.71 billion). The average value for all new case filings was USD37.31 million.
Parties' nationalities: 93% of the new cases were international in nature (compared to 88% in 2022). China, India and USA remained amongst the top foreign users.
Governing law: the most commonly applied governing laws were Singapore (64.6%) followed by the United Kingdom (20.7%) and India (4.5%).
Emergency arbitrators: there were 11 applications to appoint an emergency arbitrator, all of which were accepted by SIAC (noting SIAC has accepted all applications since the introduction of these provisions in 2010). Of the 11 applications 10 resulted in an order (one was withdrawn).
Diversity in appointments: of the 164 arbitrators appointed by SIAC, 37% were female.

HKIAC Statistics

On 6 March 2024, the HKIAC shared its 2023 Statistics. Some of the key statistics highlighted in the report are as follows:

Number of referrals: 500 cases were submitted to HKIAC in 2023 of which 281 were arbitrations (184 HKIAC administered), 10 were mediations and 209 were domain name disputes.
Use of expedited procedure: 24 applications for expedited procedure were submitted, of which 15 were granted and nine were rejected.
Industry sectors: the corporate sector made up the highest percentage of dispute (21%), followed by construction (17.1%), commercial (16%) and maritime (16%).
Quantum of cases: the total amount in dispute in all arbitration cases was approximately USD 12.5 billion (HK$92.8 billion). The average amount in dispute in administered arbitrations was approximately USD 60.1 million (HK$467.6 million).
Parties' nationalities: 75.1% of all arbitrations involved one international party (i.e., not from Hong Kong); 37.7% involved no Hong Kong parties and 9.6% involved no Asian parties. The top five nationalities of parties were Hong Kong, Mainland China, BVI, Cayman Islands and Singapore.
Seat and governing law: 96.8% of all arbitrations were seated in Hong Kong. In the remaining arbitrations, the seat was not specified. Hong Kong law was the most commonly selected governing law, followed by English law and Chinese law.
Interim measures: HKIAC processed 19 applications made to 13 different Mainland Chinese courts under the "Hong Kong-Mainland China arrangement on interim measures" seeking to preserve a total of approximately US$491 million assets in Mainland China. Orders were made preserving approximately US$76.1 million of the total amount requested.
Emergency arbitrators: three emergency arbitrator applications were submitted to HKIAC.
Diversity in appointments: 34.9% of the HKIAC arbitrator appointments were female and 34.3% were of arbitrators not appointed by HKIAC in the last three years. Of the party-appointed arbitrators 12.8% were female and 16.3% had not been confirmed by HKIAC in the last three years. Of the co-arbitrator appointments 19.2% were female and had not been confirmed by HKIAC in the last three years.

SCC Statistics

The SCC shared its 2023 Statistics. Some of the key statistics highlighted in the report are as follows:

Number of referrals: 175 new cases, of which 55% under the SCC Arbitration Rules.
Use of expedited procedure: 38% of new cases in 2023 were registered under the SCC Rules for Expedited Arbitrations. In 100% of cases a final award was issued within six months.
Industry sectors: most common were disputes arising out of service agreements, business acquisitions, and delivery agreements.
Quantum of cases: the disputed amount in total in 2023 was EUR 3.05 billion.
Parties' nationalities: 55% were international disputes (i.e. where at least one party is not Swedish) and 45% were Swedish disputes.
Seat and governing law: in the vast majority of new cases (135 out of 175 cases) the seat was Stockholm, followed by Gothenburg (13 cases), Malmo (5 cases) and London and Helsinki (each 2 cases). Also, in the vast majority of cases the governing law was Swedish law (140 cases). The second most used governing law was English law (9 cases).
Emergency arbitrators: four emergency arbitrator applications were made and, in all cases, an emergency arbitrator appointed within 24 hours. Of these, two resulted in the request for interim relief being denied and two being partially granted.
Challenges: there were six challenges to arbitrators; five of which were dismissed and one upheld. The sustained challenge was made in relation to a party appointed arbitrator.
Diversity in appointments: of the arbitrators appointed by the SCC, 55% were women; of those appointed by the parties, 31% were women; and of those appointed by co-arbitrators, 10% were women.

ICDR Statistics

The ICDR shared its 2023 Statistics. Some of the key statistics highlighted in the report are as follows:

Number of referrals: 848 cases.
Use of expedited procedure: 28% used the expedited procedure.
Industry sectors: most common were disputes arising out of the technology (226 cases), construction (67 cases), financial services (50 cases) and real estate (43 cases).
Quantum of cases: the disputed amount in total in 2023 was USD 5 billion with the largest case being valued at USD 600 million.
Parties' nationalities: the top non US nationalities were (in descending order) China, Canada, the UK, Ukraine, India, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Kyrgyzstan and the Netherlands.
Seat: the most used US venues were New York (121 cases) and Miami (91 cases), but there were hundreds of cases seated throughout the US and abroad.
Emergency arbitrators/interim relief: there were 160 applications for emergency measures, of which 73 were granted partially or in full; 41 were denied; in 24 the parties settled and in 21 the application was withdrawn.
Diversity in appointments: 38% of diverse appointments.

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