ICDR® Amends International Dispute Resolution Procedures, Including its Arbitration & Mediation Rules

Changes are the Culmination of a Yearlong Review by ICDR Groups

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Mar 01, 2021, 09:08 ET

NEW YORK, March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Centre for Dispute Resolution^® (ICDR^®), the international division of the American Arbitration Association^® (AAA^®), has amended its Dispute Resolution Procedures, including the Arbitration and Mediation Rules.

The revised procedures, effective March 1, 2021, are the result of a yearlong review by an ICDR drafting committee comprised of arbitration and mediation practitioners from around the world, and additional ICDR committees, administrative teams, and others. The review was undertaken in response to several factors driving changes to international dispute resolution, including third-party funding, the necessity of videoconferencing in the wake of COVID-19, heightened concerns regarding cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection, and the adoption of the Singapore Convention on Mediation.

"The amendments to the Rules reflect the ICDR's efforts to continuously improve international arbitration and mediation through innovation, and by providing procedures that promote efficiency, transparency, and party control," said Eric P. Tuchmann, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the AAA-ICDR^®. "We proactively amended our international rules in order to help parties, representatives, arbitrators, and mediators effectively resolve disputes."

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Amendments to the ICDR's International Arbitration Rules:

reconfirm an arbitrator's obligation to be independent and impartial and to perform the duties of an arbitrator with adherence not only to the ICDR Rules and the terms of the Notice of Appointment provided by the Administrator but also The Code of Ethics for Arbitrators in Commercial Disputes;
promote efficiency and economy by embracing the consideration of early disposition of issues, by presumptive incorporation of mediation, by expressly providing for the use of video, and by raising the ceiling amount for expedited arbitration procedures;
expand the scope of the rules for consolidation and joinder;
address third-party funding disclosure obligations and the use of tribunal secretaries; two issues that have recently come to the forefront in international arbitration;
call for greater transparency by directing that, with party approval, the ICDR publish redacted awards; and
authorize the tribunal to make a separate award for recovery of the payment, plus interest, in favor of a party paying the deposit of a non-paying party.

Amendments to the ICDR's Mediation Rules:

furnish detailed guidance regarding mediation procedure;
emphasize party control and involvement together with institutional support for finding and appointing a mediator;
highlight the parties' and the mediator's need to consider the appropriate cybersecurity, privacy and data of protection levels needed for their case; and
address enforcement of mediated settlements pursuant to the Singapore Convention.

The ICDR's Arbitration Rules were last updated in 2014, and the Mediation Rules were last revised in 2008.

About the International Centre for Dispute Resolution
The International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) is the international division of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the largest international provider of dispute resolution services. Established in 1996, the ICDR serves parties from over 100 countries with multilingual staff experienced in international dispute resolution proceedings, and a roster of over 725 arbitrators and mediators. For more information, visit www.icdr.org.

Media Contacts:
Michael C. Clark
International Centre for Dispute Resolution
+1.212.716.3978
[email protected]

Laura Simpson
JConnelly
+1.973.713.8834
[email protected]

SOURCE American Arbitration Association