Updated 24 October 2026
How international arbitration works and how cases end
Investor-state, commercial and sports arbitration explained stage by stage, with outcome statistics from the institutions’ own caseload reports.
- Stage IRequest
- Stage IITribunal
- Stage IIIHearing
- Stage IVAward
- Stage VAnnulment or set-aside
- Stage VIEnforcement
How arbitration works
- Arbitration costs and who pays
Official fees at the ICC, ICSID and CAS, how cost advances are split, how tribunals allocate costs, and the LCIA's published median cost.
- Arbitration stages explained
From the arbitration agreement to the request, tribunal, jurisdiction, award and after. What each stage means under ICSID, UNCITRAL and ICC texts.
- Enforcing awards under the New York Convention
How the 1958 New York Convention makes foreign arbitral awards enforceable in 172 States, the documents needed and the closed list of refusal grounds.
- How to read an arbitration case page
A field-by-field guide to ICSID case pages, the PCA case list, CAS award publication and the UNCTAD navigator, and what each one does not show.
- Set-aside and annulment compared
Setting aside is a court challenge at the seat. ICSID annulment is an internal review by an ad hoc committee. Grounds, time limits and effects compared.
- Third-party funding in arbitration
What third-party funding means, the disclosure rules at the ICC and ICSID, and the laws that permit it in Singapore and Hong Kong.
- What an arbitration award means
An arbitration award is a tribunal's written decision on a dispute. What it must contain, the main types, and what it is not.
Investor-state cases
- ICSID annulment explained
ICSID annulment is a narrow review of an award by an ad hoc committee on five grounds. Time limits, stays, costs and ICSID's own outcome figures.
- ICSID explained
ICSID is the World Bank Group centre for investment disputes. Its Convention, members, rules, caseload and outcomes from its own statistics.
- Investor-state and commercial arbitration compared
How investor-state and commercial arbitration differ on parties, consent, applicable law, transparency and enforcement, with official caseload figures.
- UNCITRAL rules and the Permanent Court of Arbitration
UNCITRAL writes arbitration rules and model laws. The PCA administers cases, often under those rules. Versions, roles and the PCA's 2025 caseload.
Commercial and sports arbitration
- ICC arbitration explained
How arbitration under the 2026 ICC Rules works, what the ICC Court does, the main stages and fees, what changed from 2021, and 2025 caseload figures.
- The Court of Arbitration for Sport explained
How CAS appeals and ordinary cases work, the time limits and fees in the CAS Code, and the 2025 caseload from the ICAS annual report.
Outcomes and statistics
- How investor-state cases end
ICSID data on how investor-state arbitrations end: settlement, discontinuance, tribunal decisions, damages and annulment, with UNCTAD case totals.
- How long arbitration takes
Time limits in the ICC, CAS and ICSID rules, the LCIA's published median duration, and the dated stages of one ICSID case record.