The rise in new arbitration requests received during 1999 testifies to the continuing, and indeed exponential, growth in ICC's arbitration caseload. As the parties, arbitrators and disputes become increasingly numerous and diverse, there is an ever greater need for reflection, from the standpoint of ICC arbitration, on matters related to international commercial arbitration, both old and new. The ICC Terms of Reference are one such matter. In this issue of the ICC International Court of Arbitration Bulletin, Serge Lazareff and Erik Schäfer comment on the provisions relating to the Terms of Reference contained in the latest revision of the ICC Rules of Arbitration dating from 1 January 1998. They thus update their previous contributions to the Bulletin on this topic in the light of past practical experience and in anticipation of the impact of the new developments. A further change to the ICC Rules of Arbitration introduced by the 1998 revision concerns Article 29 regarding the interpretation and correction of ICC arbitral Awards. The Note from the Court's Secretariat included in this issue deals with a number of questions arising in this connection. Amongst current developments in our rapidly changing world, telecommunications and electronic commerce could be said to have pride of place. Their impact on business arbitration has been studied by a Working Party of the ICC Commission on International Arbitration. This issue of the Bulletin contains a summary by Herman Verbist and Christophe Imhoos of the Working Party's report.

The influence of non-national legal sources in the substantive determination of arbitral cases also deserves constant attention. Cultural neutrality is and has been a characteristic trait of ICC arbitration. No special advantages in the handling of arbitral proceedings are to be gained in ICC arbitration from national background, knowledge of a particular national procedural law, or training in a particular legal tradition. It is only natural that, in such a context, equally neutral and even-handed means of finding substantive solutions to international business disputes should be sought, within the limits set by the wishes and expectations of the parties. A reflection of this is the already significant number of ICC Awards on the substance of disputes in which UNIDROIT's Principles of International Commercial Contracts of 1994 are applied, be it as part of the proper law of the contract, to interpret provisions of the contract or the proper law, or as an expression of general principles of law or lex mercatoria. Following an introduction and preliminary assessment by Fabrizio Marrella and Fabien Gélinas, this issue of the Bulletin for the first time publishes excerpts from recent ICC arbitral Awards concerning the application of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts.

Continuing its tradition of providing a balance of news, discussion and documentary material, the Bulletin also includes in this issue a section on news from the ICC Court and its Secretariat. Readers will learn about the Court's re-styled and user-friendly web site, as well as the new composition of the International Court of Arbitration, which now has members representing more ICC National Committees than ever before.

Horacio A. Grigera Naón

Secretary General

ICC International Court of Arbitration