On 1 June 2026, the new Arbitration Rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) entered into force, following their approval by the institution’s Executive Board in March of this year.

The new Rules replace the 2021 version and apply to all arbitration proceedings commenced as from that date, unless the parties have expressly agreed to the application of a different version.

Below, we examine the amendments of greatest practical relevance.

  1. Elimination of the Terms of Reference as a Mandatory Step

Under the 2021 Rules, the drafting of the Terms of Reference was a mandatory step marking the formal commencement of the arbitral tribunal’s work and functioning as the document defining the issues submitted to arbitration.

The 2026 Rules replace this mechanism with the initial Case Management Conference (“CMC”) as the central procedural milestone. Article 24(1) of the new Rules provides that the arbitral tribunal shall hold the initial CMC within 30 days from receipt of the file from the Secretariat.

The limitation on the submission of new claims, previously linked to the signing of the Terms of Reference, is now tied to the holding of the initial CMC (Article 25). After this procedural milestone, no party may submit new claims without the authorization of the arbitral tribunal.

  1. Highly Expedited Arbitration

The procedure is entirely voluntary, depends on the express agreement of all parties, and was designed for disputes in which speed is the priority. Its main features include:

  • A complete Request for Arbitration from the outset: the claimant must submit, together with the Request for Arbitration, a full memorial containing facts, legal grounds and supporting evidence;
  • A 20-day deadline for the respondent to submit initial observations and nominate an arbitrator;
  • A 30-day deadline for the submission of the complete Answer and any counterclaims;
  • A CMC to be held within 7 days after the arbitral tribunal receives the file;
  • A final award to be rendered within 3 months from the initial CMC, a deadline that may only be extended by the ICC President.
  1. Early Determination

Article 30 of the new Rules expressly introduces the mechanism of early determination, pursuant to which any party may request that the arbitral tribunal dismiss one or more claims or defenses when they are manifestly without merit or fall outside the tribunal’s jurisdiction.

The admissibility of such request is left to the discretion of the arbitral tribunal, which, if it decides to proceed with the application, shall adopt the procedural measures it deems appropriate after consulting the parties.

  1. Expedited Procedure: New Monetary Threshold

The monetary threshold for the automatic application of the Expedited Procedure Rules (Appendix V) has been increased from US$3,000,000 to US$4,000,000 for arbitration agreements concluded on or after 1 June 2026. The previous thresholds (US$2,000,000 and US$3,000,000) remain applicable to arbitration agreements entered into during their respective periods.

  1. Arbitrators’ Confidentiality

Article 12(8) introduces, for the first time in the ICC Rules, an express confidentiality obligation applicable to arbitrators. Under the previous Rules, equivalent obligations already applied to the Court and the Secretariat, but arbitrators depended on contractual provisions or soft law instruments for a similar duty to be imposed upon them.

The exceptions provided are the standard ones: information already in the public domain, disclosure authorized by the parties, disclosure required by applicable law, or disclosure necessary to protect a legal right or comply with disclosure obligations.

  1. Time Limit for Rendering the Award

Article 34 of the new Rules eliminates the automatic six-month time limit provided for in Article 31 of the 2021 Rules, which ran from the signing of the Terms of Reference, and assigns to the President of the Court the responsibility for fixing and, where necessary, extending such deadline, taking into account the procedural timetable established during the initial CMC or a reasoned request from the arbitral tribunal.

Conclusion

From a practical perspective, these innovations require particular attention in three areas:

  1. the review of existing arbitration clauses, in order to verify whether they contain references to a specific version of the Rules;
  2. the adaptation of procedural strategies to the new role of the initial CMC as the central procedural milestone; and
  3. compliance with the new disclosure obligations applicable to both parties and arbitrators.