Parties may file a Request for a DOCDEX Decision for any dispute relating to:
- a documentary credit;
- a standby letter of credit;
- a bank-to-bank reimbursement;
- a collection;
- a demand guarantee or counter-guarantee;
- a forfaiting transaction,
- a bank payment obligation (BPO); or
- any other trade finance-related instrument, undertaking or agreement.
DOCDEX is a preferred dispute resolution method because of litigations unlimited costs. Depending on the amount in dispute, DOCDEX proceedings are capped at US$5,000 or US$10,000. What’s more, even in exceptional cases, the International Centre for ADR (“Centre”) will only charge an additional fee of US$2,500 or US$5,000.
You can feel confident that you receive a thorough analysis and well-considered conclusion with DOCDEX. Cases are decided by a panel of three impartial experts having extensive experience in, and knowledge of, trade finance transactions. These experts are specially selected from a list maintained by our ICC Banking Commission. A Technical Adviser nominated by the Commission then personally reviews each decision to certify that it is in line with ICC Banking Rules and/or international trade finance practice standards. The entire process usually takes between two and three months, compared to years with court proceedings.
DOCDEX Decisions are kept private and rendered in English. They are not binding unless the parties have otherwise agreed and are not arbitral awards. However, anonymised DOCDEX Decisions are widely distributed to enable practitioners to avoid common errors leading to disputes while at the same time preserving confidentiality.
You can find the full text of DOCDEX Decisions in the publication Collected DOCDEX decisions 2013-2016 from ICC Store. All previous decisions are also available in the Trade Finance Channel of the ICC Digital Library.