New ICC Rules of Arbitration enhance efficiency, clarity and usability

The ICC Court is the most preferred arbitral institution worldwide. The revisions, which enhance efficiency, clarity and usability, follow the previous update, which entered into force in January 2021, and reflect the ongoing evolution of arbitration practice. The revisions are the result of extensive consultation with the international arbitral community, including the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR and the ICC national committee network, to ensure that ICC Arbitration continues to meet the needs of companies, states and state entities, and the disputes community worldwide.

With these goals in mind, this article will walk through the most significant changes, in the order they appear in the 2026 Rules.

1. Written communications

The 2026 Rules enhance efficiency and sustainability while recognising the changing technological landscape, by providing that written communications are to be made by electronic means, unless a party requests confirmation of receipt or delivery of hard copies to effectuate service of the Request for Arbitration, Request for Joinder and Answer to the Request or Joinder.

Leveraging technology to increase operational and procedural efficiency, ICC Arbitration proceedings benefit from ICC’s Dispute Resolution Services digital case management platform, ICC Case Connect powered by Opus 2. Throughout the arbitration proceedings, parties have a secure, dedicated case space to facilitate communications and document-sharing. Parties and arbitral tribunals are encouraged to make use of this centralised case environment, although the degree to which they do so is left to their discretion.

• Arbitrator independence and impartiality

The 2026 Rules maintain the disclosure standard that has long been associated with ICC Arbitration, but now also set out the ICC Court’s expectation that any “doubts the prospective arbitrator may have about whether to make a disclosure shall be resolved in favour of disclosure” (Article 12(2)) as well as the ICC Court’s long-standing practice that a “disclosure does not, by itself, establish a lack of independence or impartiality”(Article 12(4)).

These provisions – set out, until now, in the Note to Parties and Arbitral Tribunals on the Conduct of the Arbitration – have been introduced to encourage prompt and full disclosure. By elevating these principles to the level of the Rules themselves, the 2026 revision seeks to clarify the understanding around disclosures, while also providing reassurance to prospective arbitrators that disclosure, in and of itself, should not be understood as an admission of conflict.

Additionally, to assist prospective arbitrators and arbitrators with their disclosure obligations, Article 12(5) of the 2026 Rules provides that parties must submit a list of persons and entities whom they believe the prospective arbitrators and arbitrators should consider, and explain the reasons for their consideration. While making the disclosure exercise more efficient and reducing the risk of issues during the proceedings by involving the parties early on, the new provisions nonetheless keep the arbitrator ultimately responsible for disclosures.

Lastly, Article 14(2) of the 2026 Rules provides that the Secretary General may refer a decision regarding whether to confirm an arbitrator to the ICC Court, even in the absence of an objection to confirmation, reflecting current practice.

• Confidentiality

Article 12(8) of the 2026 Rules provides that arbitrators shall keep confidential all matters relating to the arbitration unless otherwise in the public domain, agreed by the parties, required by applicable law, or necessary to protect a legal right or comply with disclosure obligations. The confidentiality obligations of the ICC Court and the Secretariat remain unchanged.

Parties also retain the ability to agree the extent to which they wish the arbitration to be confidential, either at the time they enter into an arbitration agreement or subsequently during the arbitration proceedings. Moreover, Article 23(3) of the 2026 Rules, stating that the tribunal has the ability to make orders – at the request of any party, concerning the confidentiality of the arbitration proceedings or of any other matters in connection with the arbitration – and may take measures to protect trade secrets and confidential information, remains unchanged..

4. Truncated tribunal 

Under Article 16(5) of the 2026 Rules, the ICC Court may decide to proceed with a truncated tribunal, instead of replacing an arbitrator who has died or been removed by the ICC Court after the last hearing or the filing of the last substantive submissions, whichever is later. Previously, this could only be done after the closing of the proceedings.

5. Terms of Reference 

Under the 2026 Rules, Terms of Reference are no longer a necessary step in ICC proceedings, although arbitral tribunals retain the discretion to establish them where appropriate as a useful case management tool. This approach builds on the experience of the Expedited Procedure Provisions (EPP) introduced in 2017, under which Terms of Reference are not mandatory. To date, the ICC Court has administered more than 1,000 cases under the EPP, with only a limited number of tribunals deciding to draw up Terms of Reference (less than 25).

With this development, the Case Management Conference (CMC), which remains mandatory under Article 24 of the 2026 Rules and must be held within 30 days from the arbitral tribunal receiving the file, is given prominence. The procedural timetable – established at the initial CMC or as soon as possible thereafter – will now be communicated to the ICC Secretariat (rather than to the ICC Court), while institutional monitoring will remain robust.

Following the initial CMC, no party may introduce new claims without the authorisation of the arbitral tribunal.

6. Case management techniques

In ICC Arbitration, the arbitral tribunal and the parties are required to make every effort to conduct the arbitration in an expeditious and cost-effective manner, having regard to the complexity and value of the dispute. To assist the arbitral tribunal with managing the case effectively, the ICC Secretariat will issue updated guidance on various case management techniques taking into account the work of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR. The list of techniques has been removed from the 2026 Rules to ensure the case management techniques can be more easily updated to reflect evolving practice.

7. Early determination 

Article 30 of the 2026 Rules provides that a party may apply for an early determination by the arbitral tribunal that one or more claims or defences are manifestly without merit or manifestly outside of the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction, a procedure which had previously been described in the Note. This inclusion in the 2026 Rules further demonstrates the variety of tools and procedures which can be employed in the framework of ICC Arbitration to effectively resolve disputes.

8. Time limit for the final award 

Article 34 of the 2026 Rules provides that the President of the ICC Court shall fix, or subsequently extend, the time limit for rendering the final award, taking into account: (a) the procedural timetable; or (b) a reasoned request from the arbitral tribunal. This replaces the longstanding default time limit of six months from the last signature of the Terms of Reference. In practice, that default time limit was rarely applied, as the ICC Court typically fixes time limits aligned with the procedural timetable to grant parties greater predictability as to when the final award will be issued.

Under the 2026 Rules, the authority to fix and extend time limits is vested in the President of the ICC Court, with a view to enhancing efficiency and strengthening oversight of proceedings timelines. In practice, most arbitrations will continue to operate under time limits aligned with the procedural timetable, as was already the prevailing approach under previous editions of the Rules.

9. Signature and Notification of the Award 

To further the efficiency of ICC Arbitration and recognising the preferences of many parties today, Article 38 of the 2026 Rules provides that after consulting with the parties and considering all relevant circumstances, the arbitral tribunal may: sign the award electronically; sign the award in counterparts; and/or request the ICC Secretariat to notify the award in paper form or electronic format, or any other manner that is permitted by law.

10. Correction of the award

Under Article 39(1) of the 2026 Rules, the deadline for an arbitral tribunal to submit a correction on its own initiative is extended from 30 to 45 days, to take into account the practice and now stated requirement that the tribunal first seek the parties’ comments.

11. Tribunal secretary 

Under Article 44 of the 2026 Rules, after consulting with the parties, the arbitral tribunal may appoint a tribunal secretary to work under the arbitral tribunal’s direction and control, without delegating its decision-making authority. This provision incorporates current practice and provides clarification that tribunal secretaries must satisfy the same independence and impartiality requirements as arbitrators under the Rules and sign a statement of acceptance, availability, impartiality and independence before their appointment.

Additionally, Appendix III, Article 7 provides that the arbitral tribunal may claim reimbursement of a tribunal secretary’s reasonable and justified expenses. Otherwise, appointing a tribunal secretary may not create any additional financial burden on the parties, ensuring predictability regarding the costs of the proceeding. Direct arrangements between the arbitral tribunal and the parties regarding the tribunal secretary’s fees are prohibited.

12. Emergency Arbitration 

The 2026 Rules introduce clarification aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of Emergency Arbitration (EA) proceedings. In particular, they clarify the scope of parties against whom emergency relief may be sought. Under the 2026 Rules, EA proceedings may be initiated against: a) parties that are signatories to the arbitration agreement upon which the Application is based; b) their successors; or c) any party for which the President is satisfied, based on information in the Application, that an arbitration agreement binding such party may exist.

This new language under c) reflects how the practice with respect to signatories or successors evolved across the 287 EA applications administered since the EA provisions were first introduced in 2012.

The 2026 Rules recognise that disputes frequently involve complex corporate structures and fact patterns where the President of the ICC Court may be satisfied that the requirements under which the Rules are met. Article 1(7) of Appendix IV now empowers the President of the ICC Court to decide, based on the information submitted as part of the application for emergency measures, whether an arbitration agreement may bind the parties. This safeguard ensures that access to urgent interim relief is not unduly curtailed where appropriate, while preserving the arbitral tribunal’s authority to make a final determination on jurisdiction in the main proceedings as well as the emergency arbitrator’s findings on jurisdiction and admissibility.

Additionally, the 2026 Rules expressly acknowledge preliminary orders within the emergency arbitrator proceedings. At any stage of emergency arbitrator proceedings, a party may request a preliminary order directing another party not to frustrate the purpose of the application. Where circumstances so require, such requests may be made and decided without notice to the other parties, addressing situations where prior notification could undermine the effectiveness of the requested relief, such as asset dissipation or destruction of evidence.

The 2026 Rules contain procedural safeguards following the issuance of a preliminary order. If the preliminary order is granted, the emergency arbitrator must immediately afford all other parties a reasonable opportunity to present their case, reinforcing due process protections. The emergency arbitrator is expressly empowered to modify or revoke the preliminary order in light of subsequent submissions.

13. Expedited Procedure 

Since their introduction in 2017, the Expedited Procedure Provisions (EPP) have increased efficiency in ICC proceedings with the default appointment of a sole arbitrator, shorter procedural timelines, limits on submissions and hearings, and an award within six months from the date of the initial CMC. Over 1,000 cases have been administered under the EPP to date, resulting in almost 600 awards.

Under the 2026 Rules, the monetary threshold for the automatic application of the Expedited Procedure Provisions has been increased to US$4 million (R$12.8 million) for arbitration agreements concluded on or after 1 June 2026. This adjustment broadens the range of disputes eligible for expedited arbitration.

The higher threshold acknowledges both the rising value of international commercial disputes and the confidence the global business community, as well as states and state entities, users have developed in ICC proceedings. 

All other established procedural features of the EPP remain unchanged.

Parties remain free to determine whether their case is conducted under the EPP, regardless of whether a case falls within the automatic application of EPP. In practice, parties have chosen to opt into the EPP provisions where the amounts in dispute were in the hundreds of millions of dollars and where the dispute lent itself to a streamlined process.

14. Highly Expedited Arbitration 

The 2026 Rules introduce new opt-in, Highly Expedited Arbitration Provisions (HEAP), which provide for a final award to be issued within three months of the initial CMC, addressing the needs of global business for a quick resolution of certain disputes, or a discrete issue in dispute, regardless of the amounts in dispute.

In a HEAP, disputes will be resolved by a sole arbitrator appointed by the ICC Court if the parties cannot agree on the sole arbitrator within 20 days. As with EPP, the arbitrator has the discretion to decide the case solely on documents, rather than holding a hearing, and may decide not to permit document requests. The initial submissions are front-loaded, with the requirement that the Request for Arbitration also include a Statement of Claim, and the Answer also include a Statement of Defence, both supported by evidence and legal authorities. The parties also may agree on an unreasoned award. Model clauses, including specific clauses to opt-in to EPP or HEAP, can be found here.

15. Fees and costs 

In the 2026 Rules, details of the fees and costs of ICC Arbitration are included in the Schedule of Fees. Additionally, to increase efficiency in the administration of ICC arbitrations, the Secretary General now fixes advances on costs and handles other financial aspects, except the ICC Court continues to fix the arbitrators’ fees and the ICC administrative expenses. 

To increase transparency, various provisions which had previously been in the Note, such as the process for accepting payment from third parties, how arbitrators may request advances and fees for tribunal secretaries, have been added.

The scales for ICC administrative expense in US dollars have been adjusted, reducing costs for disputes under US$10,000,000 in furtherance of ICC’s mission to ensure affordable access to justice. For larger disputes, targeted upward adjustments have been introduced – for the first time since 2010 – reflecting changes in the scale of global disputes.

16. Governance

The 2026 Rules provide that the ICC Court comprises the President, Vice Presidents, and Court Members, eliminating a reference to Alternate Court Members. This change reflects the current practice that Alternate Court Members participate equally with Court Members in the work of the ICC Court.

Meeting evolving needs and expectations of parties

Since I began my term as President of the ICC Court, I have been focused on assuring that every aspect of ICC Arbitration has a “client mindset”. The 2026 Rules are designed within this broad framework, focused on increased efficiency, clarity and usability to meet the evolving needs and expectations of the parties. Building on more than 100 years as the world’s most preferred and trusted arbitral institution, the 2026 Rules offer state-of-the-art tools for the resolution of disputes, large or small, across all industry sectors, and involving businesses, states and state entities from around the world.

In conjunction with the entry into force of the 2026 Rules on 1 June, the ICC Court will release translations of the 2026 Rules in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Arabic and German, as well as an updated version of its Guidance Note to Parties and Arbitral Tribunals on the Conduct of ICC Arbitration, last amended in January 2021. Further translations of the 2026 Rules will follow in due course.