The 2026 Revisions to the ICC Arbitration Rules Enter Into Force

Written communication by electronic means. Article 3 of the 2026 Rules provides that written communications with the Secretariat shall be conducted electronically unless the parties request confirmation of receipt or the delivery of hard copies. This reform improves efficiency of the arbitration proceedings and encourages users to use ICC Case Connect, the ICC's centralized digital case-management platform.

New rules regarding arbitrators' disclosure. The 2026 Rules introduce greater clarity and structure regarding arbitrators' disclosure obligations by expressly codifying the Court's long-standing practice previously contained in the Note to Parties and Arbitral Tribunals on the Conduct of Arbitral Proceedings. Three main rules are introduced expressly, confirming that: (i) a disclosure does not, by itself, establish a lack of independence or impartiality, (ii) any doubts about whether to make a disclosure shall be resolved in favor of disclosure, and (iii) arbitrators are bound by confidentiality obligations.

Furthermore, Article 12(5) introduces a new structured mechanism for party engagement in the disclosure process. Upon filing a Request, Answer, Request for Joinder, or request for an extension of time, each party must submit to the Secretariat a list of persons and entities which it believes the prospective arbitrators should consider, together with the reasons for such consideration. This formalizes an opportunity for parties to raise potential conflicts at an early stage but does not, obviously, discharge the arbitrator from their ultimate duty to make any necessary disclosure.

Replacement of mandatory Terms of Reference ("ToR") by an optimized Case Management Conference ("CMC"). The ToR historically served three main functions: (i) confirming the parties' consent to arbitrate; (ii) recording key procedural agreements; and (iii) defining the scope of the dispute. However, its practical relevance had diminished over time. Whenever it was possible, typically in Expedited Procedures, tribunals and parties increasingly refrained from setting out a detailed list of issues at such an early stage, opting for greater procedural flexibility as the case evolved.

The 2026 Rules adopt a new default rule: ToR are no longer a required step, although arbitral tribunals retain the discretion to establish them where appropriate. This approach builds on the experience of the Expedited Procedure Provisions ("EPP"), under which ToR are not mandatory. To date, the ICC Court has administered more than 1,000 cases under the EPP, with fewer than 25 tribunals deciding to draw up ToR. With this development, the CMC, which remains mandatory under Article 24 and must be held within 30 days of the tribunal receiving the file, has been given greater prominence as the central procedural milestone.

The 2026 Rules also allow tribunals to require pre-CMC proposals from the parties and party attendance. Key procedural elements previously captured in the ToR, such as identification of the parties, confirmation of jurisdiction and applicable law, may now be recorded in Procedural Order No. 1, for which the ICC Secretariat is currently preparing a model template. Importantly, following the initial CMC, no party may introduce new claims without the tribunal's authorization, which incentivizes parties to articulate their claims comprehensively at the Request for Arbitration and Answer stages.

Provision for early determination. Article 30 of the 2026 ICC Rules expressly provides that a party may apply to the arbitral tribunal for an early determination that one or more claims or defenses are manifestly without merit or manifestly outside the tribunal's jurisdiction. This provision codifies a practice that had developed under the previous Rules, notably through Article 22 of the 2021 ICC Rules, on the basis of which the arbitral tribunal has issued "expeditious determinations".

Emergency Arbitration ("EA"). Clarifications have been introduced through the revision of the EA procedure. In particular, Article 1(2) expressly extends the EA provisions to non-signatories where the applicability of the arbitration agreement is established on a prima facie basis. Moreover, Article 7 of the 2026 Rules expressly recognizes the possibility for parties to request in emergency arbitrator proceedings ex parte preliminary orders directing another party not to frustrate the purpose of the emergency application.

Expedited Procedure Provisions ("EPP"). The 2026 Rules have not altered the framework of EPP introduced in 2017. However, the threshold for the automatic application of the EPP has been increased from EUR 3 million to EUR 4 million, thereby expanding the scope of these proceedings and encompassing a larger share of disputes submitted to ICC Arbitration.

New Highly Expedited Arbitration Provisions. The 2026 Rules introduce the new Highly Expedited Arbitration Provisions, or HEAP, expanding the procedural toolkit available to parties through a streamlined and cost-efficient arbitration framework set out in Appendix VII. The HEAP applies on an opt-in basis and is designed to provide an efficient mechanism for resolving lower-complexity disputes, regardless of the amount in dispute.

The HEAP seeks to accelerate proceedings through shorter procedural timelines and by requiring parties to frontload their cases at an early stage of the arbitration. Under the HEAP, the final award must be rendered within three months of the initial CMC. The parties may also agree that the award be rendered without reasons, although this may increase the risk of a set-aside application or enforcement challenges in certain jurisdictions.

The HEAP largely resembles the Singapore International Arbitration Centre's ("SIAC") Streamlined Procedure, introduced in 2025. In that year, 60 cases proceeded under the Streamlined Procedure, with proceedings concluded within three months of the constitution of the tribunal. It remains to be seen whether the HEAP under the 2026 Rules will prove equally successful.

Revision of the time limit for rendering the final award. The 2026 Rules have removed the fixed six-month deadline for arbitral tribunals to render awards. This provision has been replaced by Article 34 of the 2026 Rules, which provides that the President of the ICC Court shall fix or subsequently extend the time limit for rendering the final award on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the procedural timetable or a reasoned request from the arbitral tribunal. The authority vested in the President of the ICC Court is intended to enhance efficiency and strengthen the Court's oversight of the procedural timetable.

Provisions regarding the role of tribunal secretaries. Article 44 of the 2026 Rules expressly recognizes the role of tribunal secretaries in ICC arbitration, while making clear that they may not exercise any decision-making powers, which remain exclusively vested in the arbitral tribunal. This development incorporates into the Rules the established use of tribunal secretaries in ICC international arbitration. The 2026 Rules further extend arbitrators' independence, impartiality and confidentiality obligations to arbitral secretaries by requiring them to sign a statement of acceptance, availability, impartiality and independence prior to their appointment.

Confidentiality obligations for the tribunal and secretary. Article 12(8) has been added to expressly implement the confidentiality obligations of the arbitral tribunal, which also extend to the tribunal's secretary.