Arbitration analysis: An agreement varying a litigation funding agreement contained a clause providing that any party shall be entitled to resolve a dispute by referring it to a KC who would be instructed to provide a final and binding opinion. The court held that the claimant did not have a good arguable case that the clause was an arbitration agreement, and the court could not, therefore, appoint an arbitrator pursuant to section 18 of the Arbitration Act 1996. Written by Jennifer Haywood, barrister, arbitrator and mediator at Serle Court.

Arbitration under the Arbitration Act 1996 (AA 1996, as amended by the 2025 Act) is an ad-hoc procedure not administered by an institution. It is for the tribunal (once appointed) to control the arbitration and, subject to the parties’ agreement, to set and drive the procedure of the arbitration. For an overview of the structure of arbitration proceedings, see Practice Note: A quick guide to the arbitration process, which sets out the ‘general’ structure that an arbitration will follow. the structure of the arbitration may however be influenced by the legal background of the counsel and tribunal involved—an English-seated arbitration in front of an English arbitrator with parties represented by English counsel is likely to follow the format of English litigation. However, where American and English counsels appear in front of a South-American arbitrator, the procedure may well be different and influenced by its participants (though clearly still ‘directed’ by the tribunal). AA 1996 procedure Sections 33–41 of AA 1996 are under the heading ‘the arbitral proceedings’. However, in practice, AA 1996 (deliberately)

Law360: Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence led to expanded adoption of the technology among international arbitrators, according to an annual report from Freshfields LLP published last week.

Law360: The rapidly evolving fields of technology lend themselves to arbitration as a forum for dispute resolution. Technology companies and entrepreneurs generally prefer privacy in their commercial dealings, which are often international and complicated, and to have control and flexibility over their businesses. Arbitration offers these benefits and more—but not without its problems.

Arbitration analysis: The Commercial Court directed that four preliminary issues be determined before considering India’s section 45 Arbitration Act 1996 (AA 1996) application, which sought to challenge a prior procedural ruling by the arbitral tribunal. India argued that the English-seated tribunal was obliged to apply only Mauritian law to resolve who could represent the claimant companies. The court allowed the directors/shareholders to intervene and ruled that resolving the preliminary issues—such as whether the section 45 application was properly brought or amounted to a collateral appeal, would avoid improper judicial encroachment on arbitral jurisdiction. Written by Tatiana Minaeva FCIArb, Independent Arbitrator.

The procedural rules in accordance with which an arbitration is conducted. The arbitration rules may be found in the arbitration law of the seat of the arbitration and/or any arbitration rules agreed to apply by the parties (such as the arbitration rules of the LCIA or HKIAC).

Arbitration analysis: The Hong Kong Court of First Instance refused China National Gold Group Hong Kong Limited (CNG) leave to appeal against the earlier refusal to stay Soremi Investments Ltd’s (SIL) action in favour of arbitration. Although the shareholders’ agreement contained a wide arbitration clause (expressly extending to disputes over ‘non-contractual obligations’), the court held that the dispute must still, in substance, arise out of or relate to that agreement. The proposed appeal failed because the judge had not created a new ‘transacting/non-transacting party’ test: SIL’s limited role under the agreement (mainly to give effect to dividend arrangements) was simply part of the contractual context. Further, the conversion claim did not depend on determining whether the agreement’s reserved-matters provisions were complied with, and the Fiona Trust presumption could not expand the clause beyond what the parties objectively agreed. The decision underlines that Hong Kong’s pro-arbitration policy operates through party autonomy and careful contractual construction, not presumptions that override context. Written by Julien Chaisse, professor & RGC senior research fellow at School of Law, City University of Hong Kong.

The table below sets out available statistics from some leading international arbitral institutions and other bodies on caseload and other matters. It is worth bearing in mind that arbitral organisations do not present their caseload information in the same way, which makes like-for-like comparisons challenging. Arbitral institution/body Arbitration cases filed No. of female arbitrators appointed (total no. of arbitrators in brackets) Lexis+® UK legal updates and News Analysis Original source CIETAC—China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission See: CIETAC arbitration—overview • Cases filed in 2025: 806• Cases filed in 2024: 758• Cases filed in 2023: 645• Cases filed in 2022: 642• Cases filed in 2021: 636• Cases filed in 2020: 739• Cases filed in 2019: 617• Cases filed in 2018: 522• Cases filed in 2017: 476• Cases filed in 2016: 485• Cases filed in 2015: 437• Cases filed in 2014: 387• Cases filed in 2013: 375• Cases filed in 2012: 331Note: these cases are categorised by CIETAC as ‘foreign-related’. N/A • CIETAC releases 2025 arbitration work report and unveils 2026 work plan, LNB News 11/03/2026 32• CIETAC releases 2024 arbitration

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note provides guidance on the third edition of the ARIAS (UK) Rules adopted in 2014 (the ARIAS Rules). For guidance on adopting the ARIAS Fast Track Arbitration Rules, see Practice Note: ARIAS Fast Track Rules (AFTAR) 2013. What is ARIAS? The AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance and Arbitration Society of the UK (ARIAS (UK)) was established in 1991 as a Centrally Affiliated Chapter of AIDA, the Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances, an international society dedicated to promoting the study and knowledge of insurance law (click here for the ARIAS (UK) website). ARIAS was established against a background of increasing numbers of insurance and reinsurance disputes to promote ways of resolving those disputes which were responsive to market needs, principally through arbitration. Services ARIAS is not an institution. Unlike, for example, arbitral institutions such as the LCIA, does not have a secretariat, and its role in arbitrations conducted under its rules is limited to the appointment

ARCHIVED: This Checklist has been archived and is not maintained. CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): Many arbitral organisations have responded to the coronavirus pandemic with practical guidance and/or changes to their usual procedures and ways of working. The Administered Arbitration Rules of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC Rules) are widely used institutional arbitration rules administered by HKIAC in Hong Kong, but are used globally. This Checklist details the arbitration procedure under the 2013 edition of the HKIAC Rules. For guidance on the 2018 edition of the HKIAC Rules, see the ‘Related documents’. Preliminary steps • Identify claims and counterclaims available. • Consider the scope of the arbitration clause and whether the available claims and counterclaims can be dealt with by arbitration. • Identify your preferred arbitrator (whether that be for nomination as sole arbitrator or party nomination on a three-person tribunal). • Identify any potential limitation issues. • Consider if any interim remedies are required and, if so, whether either a court application or an emergency application to a tribunal is required. Commencement

This week's edition of Arbitration weekly highlights includes: an update on the Arbitration Bill; the Lexis Nexis annual blog post on arbitration statistics in 2023; coverage of arbitration-related decisions from Belgium, Germany and France; and an analysis on NFTs and dispute settlement related to art. All this, and more in our weekly highlights.

This week's edition of Arbitration weekly highlights includes: coverage of a High Court decisions regarding state immunity and setting aside an award and a dismissal of a section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996 ( AA 1996) application; update on the Arbitration Bill; coverage of arbitration-related decisions from Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland and the Bahamas; updates from the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI) and arbitrateAD. All this, and more, in our weekly highlights.