The present issue of theICC International Court of Arbitration Bulletin includes the 1999 statistics on ICC arbitration. The number of cases registered with the ICC Court rose by 13.5% in the space of a single year, confirming the exponential growth noted in the previous issue. Growth over the last five years has reached an impressive 38%. These promising results have been accompanied by an increase in the resources of the Court's Secretariat, including the incorporation of a seventh team comprising chief counsel and two assistants. ICC arbitration is thus well prepared to meet the new challenges resulting from increasing activity, without compromising the quality of the services it provides.

This issue also includes contributions from Stewart Shackleton on the influence of case law on the internationalization of English arbitration and from Julian Lew on interim measures of protection under the ICC Rules of Arbitration. Recent experience has shown interim and conservatory measures to be increasingly the subject of decisions by ICC Arbitral Tribunals, in response to requests from parties. In view of the practical and theoretical interest of these developments, a substantial part of this issue is devoted to presenting extracts from procedural orders and awards relating to such measures in ICC arbitral cases. The extracts are preceded by a descriptive note from Ali Yesilirmak, by way of introduction.

Horacio A. Grigera Naón

Secretary General

ICC International Court of Arbitration