ICC and Jus Mundi launch partnership to publish ICC arbitral awards

Throughout its 100-year history, ICC has brought global business together to support an international rules-based order, including the promotion of global trade and commerce through initiatives and services including those of the ICC International Court of Arbitration (ICC Court).

The partnership will see Jus Mundi, the world’s most comprehensive research engine for international law and arbitration, provide full public access to all publishable ICC Court awards and related documents made as of 1 January 2019.

Commenting on the agreement, ICC Court President, Alexis Mourre said: “The publication of ICC awards on an opt-out basis through a trusted partner is an important development in the ICC Court’s policy to enhance transparency in ICC Arbitration. The increased availability of awards will contribute to improve the quality of ICC Arbitration as much as to strengthen the legitimacy of arbitration in general.”

Jus Mundi was founded on the notion that information about international law and arbitration must be accessible worldwide, increasing the use of global rules and enhancing the rule of international law.

ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO said that publishing information on ICC arbitral awards marked a significant milestone on the road to making trade work for everyone, everywhere.

He said: “In our role as a trusted and neutral modern-day merchant of peace, ICC is uniquely positioned to deliver solutions that facilitate open trade and investment – including solutions to enable the development of arbitration for a better world.” 

Speaking about the partnership, Jean-Rémi de Maistre, CEO of Jus Mundi, said: “ICC and Jus Mundi share the same ideal: peace and prosperity through law. We are proud of this partnership that will make international arbitration, investment and trade law more accessible to legal professionals and economic actors around the world.”

In keeping with the ICC Court’s commitment to establish a system for the publication of ICC arbitral awards by 1 April 2021, the ICC and Jus Mundi partnership endeavours to broaden transparency practices without compromising confidentially – a key trait of arbitration as a dispute resolution process – in an effort bolster global trade.

As of 1 April 2021, among awards made from 1 January to 30 March 2019 which would be eligible for publication, all are either confidential or subject to an objection by a party. The ICC Court will provide an update in two months on awards made from 1 April to 30 May 2019.

The process to publish ICC arbitral awards comprises four steps before any award is released to the public through the partnership.

First, pursuant to the ICC Note to the Parties and Arbitral Tribunals on the Conduct of the Arbitration, the ICC Court ensures that any party can object to the publication of awards at any time.

Second, any personal data in the awards and related documents is redacted via pseudonymisation or anonymisation where appropriate. The names of arbitrators and places of parties’ law firms are not redacted.

Third, following pseudonymisation or anonymisation, Jus Mundi converts the award or related document into a digital document which is endorsed by ICC.

Lastly, with final checks and approval from the ICC Court, including the dispatch of the publishable document to the parties for their information, Jus Mundi publishes the ICC award or related ICC document freely to the public on a dedicated partnership website. This information is now searchable through Jus Mundi’s multilingual search engine and its other tools.

ICC and Jus Mundi will work together to improve global access to publishable arbitral awards, enhancing the international rule of law and facilitating open trade through the global rules-based order.

About Jus Mundi

Jus Mundi is a Paris-based legal tech providing smart search tools for international law and arbitration research. Jus Mundi strives to make international law and arbitration easily accessible and understandable, using artificial intelligence and machine learning to collect and structure global legal data. By combining law and technology, Jus Mundi enhances lawyers’ decision-making by giving them access to critical legal information and analytics on arbitrators, judges, and WTO panelists.

To learn more about Jus Mundi, please visit jusmundi.com.