On 29 May 2025, the International Bar Association’s (“<span class="news-text_medium">IBA</span>”) Investment Arbitration Subcommittee released a report titled ‘Constituting Tribunals in Investment Arbitration: A Report on Timing and Methods’. The report reviews data from four arbitral institutions - ICC, ICSID, PCA and SCC - on the procedures and timelines for appointing arbitrators to investment arbitration tribunals and offers four alternative methods that may improve the efficiency of the appointment process.
The Subcommittee’s analysis focused primarily on the appointment of presiding arbitrators, which is often the most complex and time-consuming part of tribunal constitution. According to the report:
The report also presents data on appointment timeframes when the parties agree on the process for appointing the presiding arbitrator. The most efficient method at ICSID is having the party-appointed co-arbitrators select the presiding arbitrator, reducing the time from 237 days to 175 days on average. Other methods, such as the ballot or strike-and-rank procedures, did not improve efficiency or took longer.
The report concludes that when institutions are involved in tribunal constitution, the default appointment methods are typically the fastest. When parties choose to deviate from these methods, they should avoid overly complex procedures and aim for simplicity.
Additionally, the report outlines four alternative appointment methods that could improve efficiency in constituting arbitral tribunals, including co-arbitrator involvement, institutional involvement, a model based on ICSID rules and a modified PCA list procedure.
