Welcome from the Editors-in-Chief

Samaa Haridi and Julien Fouret

We hope this finds our readers well and in the best of health in these extraordinary times following the onset of the Covid-19 global pandemic.

For this second 2020 issue of the ICC Bulletin, we are delighted to present seven different sections offering a wide range of contributions from our authors.

The Bulletin begins with five In Memoriam dedicated to Stephen R. Bond, Rudolf Dolzer, Pierre Gabriel, Vinayak Pradhan and Houzhi Tang acknowledging their immense talents and invaluable contributions to the field of international arbitration.

We then continue with the 2019 Statistical Report, which provides some key data regarding ICC arbitration together with an important set of data on the breadth and scope of reach of ICC dispute resolution. In 2019, new ICC dispute resolution records were made with a total of 869 new cases registered, of which 851 cases under the ICC Arbitration Rules. In terms of diversity, these new cases involved parties originating from 147 countries and independent territories and arbitrators from 89 countries. 2019 also saw a record number involving a state or state entities (20%). The Report is also available online at https://iccwbo.org/publication/icc-dispute-resolution-statistics/.

The Global Developments Section offers five contributions from the United States of America (section 1782(a) and production of evidence for use in a commercial arbitration seated outside the US), Poland (arbitrability of corporate disputes), Portugal (application for security pending suspension of recognition of foreign ICC award denied on grounds of public policy), Egypt (interest rate public policy issue) and the United Arab Emirates (guerilla tactics on arbitration agreements).

In the Commentary Section, we feature one article focusing on the fascinating history of international commercial arbitration and the development of the ICC arbitration system.

The Case Decisions Section proposes two helpful studies addressing (i) an overview of all published decisions on requests for security for costs and/or claim under the ICC Arbitration Rules; and (ii) the application of the principle of good faith under both civil law and common law, with a particular focus on ICC disputes.

The ICC Practice and Procedure Section highlights the ICC Guidance Note on COVID-19 together with its Annexes.

Our Section on ICC Activities includes two reports on the latest edition of ICC events, namely the ICC Mediation Competition which was held with a Professional Roundtable co-organised with the International Academy of Mediators and the ICC Miami Conference.

Finally, the Book Review Section presents two detailed reports of (i) Mediation in International Commercial and Investment Disputes accounting for the first time different sectors from experts and practitioners on international commercial and investment mediation and (ii) New York Convention : Article-by-Article Commentary (2nd edition) emphasizing the need to promote a consistent interpretation of the Convention.

We once more thank our contributors, our Editorial Board members and the ICC Dispute Resolution Publications team (DRS_Publications@iccwbo.org).

We wish you a pleasant reading of this new edition of the Bulletin.