This issue of the Bulletin contains the 1997 statistical report of the Court, the last to be based entirely on cases administered under the 1988 Rules. This report, which is fully commented, confirms the universal reach of ICC arbitration, notably through a sharp increase in the number of users from South and East Asia.

As a useful complement to the statistical report, a brief overview of the application of the ICC Rules by the Court in 1997 is provided by Dominique Hascher. His contribution to this issue offers unique insights into the actual role played by the Court in ICC arbitration.

The publication of this issue follows a busy and stimulating month for international arbitration practitioners and scholars, who came from five continents to meet in Paris, first at the ICCA Conference, and then at the Michel Gaudet Day on the need for speed in international commercial arbitration.

The opportunity of honoring a leading figure of contemporary international arbitration as well as the highly topical theme of the Gaudet Day prompted an impressive number of world experts to come to ICC headquarters and share their experience. ICC will publish the proceedings of this one-day conference later this year as a Liber Amicorum Michel Gaudet.

As for the ICCA Conference, its most pervasive theme was the future of the New York Convention, the 40th anniversary of which is being celebrated this year. Back in the fifties, ICC had initiated and sponsored the international movement that led, ultimately, to the adoption of the Convention in 1958. As part of these efforts towards the improvement of the regime that had prevailed under the 1927 Geneva Convention, ICC published in 1953 a document entitled "Enforcement of International Arbitral Awards" which comprised a Report by the Committee on International Commercial Arbitration and a Preliminary Draft Convention which served as a basis for the discussions that led to the final text of the Convention. As international discussion intensifies on the future of the Convention, the Bulletin thought fit to reproduce this document, which is no longer available in its original form. It is published as a historical reference which does not necessarily reflect ICC's current position.

The Bulletin also lends its pages to Jan Paulsson, who argues, on the basis of his Goff Lecture delivered in Hong Kong last Fall, that a "local standard annulment" need not bar the enforcement of an arbitral award in another country. His is a contribution to a heated debate on the interpretation of the New York Convention, a contribution which is likely to provoke a healthy exchange of views in this Bulletin.

Our readers will also find in this issue the Final Report on Intellectual Property Disputes and Arbitration. Available figures indicate an increasing use of arbitration in the settlement of intellectual property disputes as traditional legislative restrictions in this field are gradually being removed in many countries. The Special Working Party to which the ICC Commission on International Arbitration entrusted the preparation of this Report was chaired by Julian D. M. Lew.

The series of arbitral awards published in this issue, finally, concerns the application of the FIDIC conditions of contract. The percentage of ICC arbitration cases relating to construction contracts remains stable at 14%.

Horacio Grigera Naón

Secretary General

ICC International Court of Arbitration