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Update from the Swiss Arbitration Centre
The Swiss Arbitration Centre registered 103 new cases, reflecting the success of the revision of the Swiss Rules and the introduction of the Rules of Mediation Procedure for Financial Services Disputes in 2021. The Swiss Arbitration Centre has administered its first 5 Mediation Procedures for Financial Services.
The vast majority of cases filed in 2022 were arbitrations (90%), dominated by the following key industry sectors: manufacturing (19%), commodity mining and trading (15%), banking and finance (13%), IT & telecommunication (11%), as well as pharma and life science (8%). The most common types of agreements in dispute were sale of goods (32%) and corporate/M&A/joint venture (18%).
The Swiss Arbitration Centre reaffirmed its position as an international arbitration institution with international arbitration cases (meaning at least one party not registered nor domiciled in Switzerland) representing 79% of its caseload.
The origin of the non-Swiss parties spread over Continental Europe (40%), Asia including the Middle East (8%), North America (6%), and others (7%).
The Swiss Arbitration Centre’s position as an international arbitration institution is also evidenced by its capacity to offer services in four different languages. In 2022, the multi-lingual Secretariat and Arbitration Court administered 18% of its arbitration cases in French, 12% in German and 4% in Italian. English was the language of the proceedings in 66% of the cases.
The Swiss Arbitration Centre has administered all types of cases over the years, handling smaller-value matters and high-value disputes facing different levels of complexity alike. The highest amount in dispute in an arbitration filed before the Swiss Arbitration Centre in 2022 was over CHF 240 million, whereas the lowest was CHF 14’939, reflecting that dispute resolution under the Swiss Rules is accessible to a wide range of parties and disputes.
The Expedited Procedure provisions were applied in 42% of the arbitration cases, an increase of 10% compared to the previous year and reflecting the Swiss Arbitration Centre’s capacity to provide straightforward, time- and cost-efficient dispute resolution services.
The Swiss Arbitration Centre is committed to achieve gender parity in its arbitrator appointments in the long-term, as evidenced by its figures of woman arbitrator appointments over the past years.