The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) had a banner year in 2016, buoyed by record numbers of arbitration cases filed in Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Preliminary data from the ICC show that a record total of 966 new cases were administered by the court last year, a 21% jump from 2015’s 801 new cases. The 966 new cases involved 3,099 parties from 137 countries.
There was a 15% increase in the number of involved parties from Latin America, the court said, with Brazil (123 parties) taking the third place in global party rankings and Mexico (105 parties) debuting on the top five countries worldwide. Meanwhile, South and East Asia recorded a 22% increase, boosted by the record 82 parties from South Korea. North and Sub-Saharan Africa each recorded an increase of approximately 50% in number of involved parties, the court also noted.
The numbers, the highest the court has seen since being established 94 years ago, is due to the court’s push to make its arbitration process more accessible worldwide, it said.
“These efforts will continue in 2017 with plans to build further on our global presence in the year ahead,” Alexis Mourre, ICC Court president, said.
The court is also expecting 2017 to be busy, with arbitration statistics showing a record 1,592 pending cases, 61 more than at the close of business the previous year.
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