Poland in the 2024 ICC Court of Arbitration Statistics
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has published statistics from its Court of Arbitration concerning the 841 cases initiated in 2024 (the ICC report is available here). I was curious about Poland’s position, as well as that of Polish arbitrators and Polish law, in the world's leading international arbitration institution. The conclusion is the following: Poland is a serious player in Central and Eastern Europe, but the region itself plays a limited role, and Poland is a marginal player from the global—and even European—statistical perspective.
ENTITIES FROM POLAND
28 entities from Poland were parties in arbitration proceedings initiated in 2024. By comparison, there were 80 entities from Turkey, 19 from Russia, 16 from Greece, 14 from Romania, and 11 from Hungary. These 28 Polish entities make up only 1.17% of all parties involved in ICC Court of Arbitration cases initiated during that period. From our region, which includes Turkey, 9% of all such entities originated. Across all of Europe, there were 983 entities involved.
POLISH LAW
Polish law was the applicable law in 14 arbitration proceedings (1.66% of all global cases), placing it just behind Turkish law (15) and ahead of all other Central and Eastern European countries: Romania (7), Greece (7), Ukraine (5), Hungary (2), North Macedonia (2), and the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Latvia, Slovakia, and Russia (each with 1). Polish law lags far behind English law (125), Swiss law (60), and French law (42).
POLISH ARBITRATORS
In cases initiated last year, Polish arbitrators were appointed 19 times (representing 1.33% of all arbitrator appointments in ICC Court of Arbitration cases worldwide during that period), including 6 times as sole arbitrators, 11 times as co-arbitrators, and only 2 times as tribunal chairs. Poland ranks second in the region in this regard, behind Turkey (24) and ahead of Greece (17), the Czech Republic (6), Russia (5), and other countries with a maximum of 3 arbitrators each. In total, 804 arbitrators from all over Europe were appointed.
POLAND AS SEAT OF ARBITRATION
Poland was designated as the seat of arbitration in only 3 cases initiated last year (0.03% of all cases worldwide), ranking just behind Turkey (6) and Greece (4), and ahead of other CEE countries (2 or 1). Across Europe, there were 406 arbitrations. Considering the number of cases where Polish law was applicable and the number of Polish arbitrators appointed, the figure of just 3 arbitrations seated in Poland may reflect a lack of trust in Polish courts, which play a supervisory role in arbitrations conducted in the country.
Michał Kocur