The International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) is a worldwide organization devoted to promoting the use and improving the processes of arbitration, conciliation and other forms of resolving international commercial disputes. Its activities include convening international arbitration congresses and conferences, sponsoring authoritative dispute resolution publications, and promoting the harmonization of arbitration and conciliation rules, laws, procedures and standards.

ICCA has official status as a nongovernmental organization accredited by the United Nations. In that capacity, ICCA has participated actively in the preparation of the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules, and the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.

ICCA consists of Council Members who are recognized specialists in the field of dispute resolution. ICCA’s Statement of Purposes and Procedures provide that the Members “shall be elected from various parts of the world, from different legal and economic systems, and from developed as well as developing nations.” Persons who have served as Members for long periods are eligible to be designated lifetime Advisory Members. At present, there are 37 Members and 20 Advisory Members coming from 32 different countries.

An ICCA Congress or Conference is held every second year for the presentation and discussion of papers on different aspects of international dispute resolution. These meetings attract a large number of participants from all parts of the world, and have made significant contributions to the development of dispute resolution theory and practice. The next ICCA Congress will be held in Singapore in 2012. A meeting to celebrate ICCA's 50th Anniversary will be held in Geneva on 19-20 May 2011.

ICCA’s principal publications, prepared with the assistance of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, include the Yearbook Commercial Arbitration, the International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration, and the ICCA Congress Series, consisting of the papers presented at the biennial congresses. ICCA also co-sponsors KluwerArbitration Online, a fully searchable database in the field of international commercial arbitration.

ICCA is not an arbitral institution: it does not administer arbitrations or act as appointing authority.

Please consult our Statement of Purposes for more information.