<p>The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is a highly respected  organization in the global trading community. One of the services it provides is  the International Court of Arbitration, which is an international arbitration  institution with an outstanding track record in resolving cross border business  disputes.&nbsp; Although based in Paris, it is widely made use of by companies and  organizations undertaking business in the Middle East.&nbsp; Companies entering into  business often conclude contracts which provide that in the event any disputes  arise out of their agreements, they will be settled under the rules of  arbitration of the ICC.<br /><br />The ICC Court of Arbitration is the body which  administers the arbitration process.&nbsp; The arbitrators themselves manage and  direct the arbitration and are responsible for adjudicating on the dispute.&nbsp;  Before awards are released, they are checked by the ICC Courts for accuracy just  to ensure the high standards of the ICC are upheld.<br /><br />All such arbitrations  are conducted in accordance with the ICC arbitration rules.&nbsp; The current rules  have been in place since 1998 but have recently been reviewed by a special task  force consisting of international practitioners including Mr. Essam Al Tamimi,  founder and Senior Partner of Al Tamimi &amp; Company.&nbsp; The new rules have now  been published and come into play with effect from 01 January 2012.&nbsp; The purpose  of this article is to look at some of the changes being  introduced.&nbsp;<br /><br /><strong>Impartiality and availability of  Arbitrators:<br /><br /></strong>The arbitrators are now expressly required to sign  a statement confirming that they will remain impartial and independent, as well  as confirming they will make themselves available to take part and process the  arbitrations, if appointed to the Tribunal.&nbsp; This is intended to minimize delays  caused by arbitrators taking on too many appointments and then having no  available time to deal with them.<br /><br /><strong>The Conduct of the Arbitration  and Case Management.&nbsp;<br /><br /></strong>All clients want to see arbitrations run  as efficiently as possible, because inefficiency simply adds to the time spent  by lawyers, which in turn increases the charges to the clients.&nbsp; Under the new  rules, both the tribunal and the parties are required to make every effort to  conduct their arbitration in an expeditious and cost effective manner.&nbsp; Part of  that process will be for the tribunal to convene a case management conference at  a very early stage so as to ascertain what steps need to be taken to ensure the  conduct of the case is streamlined and well structured.<br /><br />In order to avoid  delays on the part of the Tribunal in issuing its award, the new rules also  provide for the arbitrators to inform the parties of the date by which they  expect to submit their draft award to the ICC Court for approval.&nbsp; This will  clearly help maintain impetus as well as giving the parties precise information  as to what is happening.&nbsp;<br /><br /><strong>An Emergency  Arbitrator&nbsp;<br /><br /></strong>There will be cases where parties require urgent  steps to be taken even before an Arbitration Tribunal has been appointed.&nbsp; The  ICC rules now provide for the appointment of an Emergency Arbitrator who has the  power to grant various orders on an expeditious basis.&nbsp; This will undoubtedly be  very useful, for example to prevent one of the parties from destroying evidence  or acting inappropriately.&nbsp; Although there may be problems about enforcing such  an order, the new rules envisage such relief being used in addition to ancillary  applications being made to relevant courts.&nbsp; Orders made by the Emergency  Arbitrator will not bind the Tribunal which is subsequently  appointed.<br /><br /><strong>Multiple Parties and  Consolidations<br /><br /></strong>There may be occasions where the same parties to  a dispute experience other problems arising out of number of different contracts  between them.&nbsp; Where there is a breakdown in a relationship, it sometimes tends  to escalate and spill over into other issues.&nbsp; In such a case, it would  obviously be sensible to hear all the disputes between the same parties in one  set of proceedings.&nbsp; Under the new rules it will now be much easier for the ICC  to consolidate cases of this sort, thereby keeping the arbitration costs down.&nbsp;  The current ICC rules allow for consolidation in certain circumstances but the  new rules envisage a broader power being given to the ICC Court to  consolidate.&nbsp;<br /><br />The new rules also permit the possibility of joining  additional parties to an arbitration.&nbsp; Whilst the current rules allow for  joinder by consent, the new rules empower the ICC Court to join a party to the  same arbitration agreement without the consent of the other parties.&nbsp; The  exception would be where an arbitrator has already been appointed, in which case  the consent of all parties is still needed.<br /><br />It remains to be seen how  many issues arising out of the multi-parties and multi-contract changes are  referred to and dealt with by the ICC Court.&nbsp; Clearly the ICC cannot legislate  for each and every event and sensibly they have not tried to do  so.<br /><br /><strong>Jurisdictional Challenges<br /><br /></strong>Under the current  rules if one party challenges the jurisdiction of the arbitrators, for example  by saying it is not a contractual party to the arbitration agreement, the matter  will be referred to the ICC Court for a decision.&nbsp; Under the new rules, the  Arbitration Tribunal itself is given the power to determine such issues unless  there is some special reason why the Secretary General of the ICC chooses to  refer the matter to the ICC Court.&nbsp; Such a change will probably speed things up  and reduce costs for the parties, which is to be welcomed.&nbsp; Giving the  arbitrators the right to determine their own jurisdiction also brings the ICC  into line with a number of other international arbitration  practices.<br /><br /><strong>The ICC Court</strong><br /><br />Arbitrations involving  claims against state or state entities are on the increase.&nbsp; So far as ICC  arbitration claims are concerned, the new rules gives the ICC Court the power to  appoint a suitable arbitrator in circumstances where one of the parties is a  state or claims to be a state entity.&nbsp; That power will be particularly useful  where a State is reluctant to take part or prevaricates in an attempt to block  progress.&nbsp;<br /><br /><strong>General Comment and what this means for the Middle  East</strong><br /><br />The ICC procedures are tried and tested.&nbsp; The rules are  highly regarded and work very well in practice.&nbsp; The new changes are not  dramatic, but reflect the need to deal with a few practical problems which have  arisen since the rules were last reviewed in 1998.&nbsp; In so far as the  modifications reduce delays and costs, then clearly the system will have been  improved.<br /><br />As far as the Middle East is concerned we believe the  provisions will be welcomed both by practitioners and clients.&nbsp; The possibility  of seeking emergency interim or conservative measures is likely to appeal, even  though the parties may still need to involve national courts for enforcement of  such orders.&nbsp; The delegation of certain responsibilities by the ICC Court to the  Tribunal will also be widely appreciated.&nbsp; However, as mentioned above, the ICC  Court will still retain an important role, not least to adjudicate on  applications in respect of the multiple party and consolidation  issues.&nbsp;<br /><br />The Middle East is already very well served by arbitral  institutions but the latest revisions being introduced by the ICC will increase  the attractiveness of the ICC across the region.</p>