Arbitration

Note on Personal and Expert Panel’s Expenses or Proceedings Related To The New gTLD Dispute Resolution

  • 29 December 2016

Expenses of Experts and Expert Panels which are incurred in connection with the proceedings related to the new gTLDs and administered by the ICC International Centre for Expertise (“Centre”) pursuant to the ICC Rules for Expertise (“Rules”) and the ICANN Attachment to Module 3 of the gTLD Applicant Guidebook, New gTLD Dispute Resolution Procedure (“Procedure”) will be reimbursed by the Centre in accordance with this Note.

How to submit a request for expenses

  1. The Centre will reimburse expenses and pay per diem allowances only upon receipt of a request in a readily comprehensible form including a cover page listing each payment claimed and the reason for it. Expense reimbursement claims must be supported by an original receipt. This is necessary so that the Centre can carry out its accounting responsibilities and, from time to time, provide the parties with comprehensive statements of expenses incurred by Experts.

When to submit a request for expenses

2. Experts should submit their requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances, together with any required supporting documentation as specified below, as soon as possible after expenses are incurred. This will help ensure that the advance on Costs paid by the parties is adequate to cover the Costs of the proceeding.

3. All requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances relating to any period prior to the submission of the draft Expert Determination must be provided at the latest when the draft Expert Determination is submitted to the Centre. When there is a three-member Expert Panel, the co-Experts and the Chair should co-ordinate their submission of requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances in order to ensure that they reach the Centre no later than the draft Expert Determination. Requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances submitted after the Centre has approved the Expert Determination will not be taken into account by the Centre when fixing the costs of the proceeding and will not be paid.

4. If a proceeding terminates before the rendering of an Expert Determination, all requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances must be submitted within the time limit granted by the Centre. Requests for the reimbursement of expenses and/or the payment of per diem allowances submitted after the date in which the Centre fixes the costs of the proceeding will not be taken into account by the Centre and will not be paid.

Travel expenses

5. In the exceptional case that the Experts are required to travel for the purpose of the proceeding, an Expert will be reimbursed for the actual travel expenses he or she incurs travelling from and returning to his or her usual place of business as indicated on the ICC curriculum vitae filed for the relevant proceeding. Travel expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with paragraphs 6 to 8 below.

6. A request for reimbursement of travel expenses must be accompanied by the originals of all receipts claimed or other proper substantiation if receipts are unavailable. Travel expenses that are not fully and comprehensively justified will not be reimbursed.

7. The reimbursement of travel expenses is subject to the following strict limits:

(a) Air travel: an airfare equivalent to the applicable standard business class airfare.
(b) Rail travel: the applicable first class train fare.
(c) Transport to and from airport(s) and/or train station(s): the applicable standard taxi fare.
(d) Travel by private car: a flat rate for every kilometre driven, plus all necessary actual parking and toll charges incurred. The flat rate is € 0.60 per kilometre.

8. Except for expenses claimed pursuant to paragraph 7(d) above, travel expenses will, where possible, be reimbursed in the same currency in which they were incurred. An expert may alternatively request reimbursement in US dollars provided that the request is accompanied by a statement of the US dollar amount and evidence of the exchange rate (for example, a print out from <www.oanda.com>). The date for the currency conversion should be the date the expense was incurred.

Per diem allowance

9. In addition to travel expenses, an Expert will be paid a flat-rate per diem allowance in accordance with paragraphs 10 to 14 below for every day of a ICC proceeding that he or she is required to spend outside his or her usual place of business as indicated on the ICC curriculum vitae filed for the relevant ICC proceeding. The Expert is not required to submit receipts in order to claim the per diem allowance, but simply evidence of the travel for purposes of the proceeding.

10. If the Expert is not required to use overnight hotel accommodation, the flat-rate per diem allowance is € 230.

11. If the Expert is required to use overnight hotel accommodation, the flat-rate per diem allowance is € 620.

12. The applicable per diem allowance is deemed to cover fully all personal living expenses of whatever nature and of whatever actual value (other than travel expenses) incurred by an Expert. In particular, the applicable per diem allowance is deemed to cover, among other expenses, the total cost of:

13. For the avoidance of doubt, no per diem allowance will be paid in respect of time spent by an Expert travelling to or from the relevant destination.

14. Since the per diem allowance is deemed to cover all personal living expenses incurred by an Expert while outside his or her usual place of business on the ICC proceeding, the Centre will not reimburse expenses over and above the applicable per diem allowance under any circumstances.

General office expenses and courier charges

15. General office expenses and overheads incurred in the ordinary course of business by an Expert or an Expert Panel in connection with an ICC proceeding will not be reimbursed. However, an Expert or an Expert Panel may request to be reimbursed at cost for any courier, photocopying, facsimile or telephone charges incurred for the purposes of an ICC proceeding, provided such request is accompanied by detailed receipts.

Advance payments on expenses

16. An Expert may request an advance payment of travel expenses and/or the applicable per diem allowance in accordance with paragraphs 5 to 14 above. If an advance is granted, the Expert must subsequently submit the relevant supporting documentation to the Centre, including all receipts and a statement of working days and nights spent outside of his or her usual place of business on the ICC proceeding.