We caught up with Claudia Salomon FCIArb, the President of the ICC Court of International Arbitration, about her 2024 Alexander Lecture.

Your lecture Guardian, Gatekeeper or Guide? discusses the role of arbitral institutions in protecting the integrity of the arbitral process, promoting the rule of law, and providing access to justice. What made you choose the topic?

It is a truism that an arbitration is only as good as the arbitrator. Is it also true that an arbitration is only as good as the arbitral institution? With the proliferation of arbitral institutions worldwide, parties today have many choices. And because that choice matters, I wanted to explore with this lecture how the various approaches used by different arbitral institutions could impact the arbitral process. I also wanted to dive more deeply into the assumptions about the role arbitral institutions play in both preventing and resolving disputes to ensure we are meeting the rapidly evolving needs and expectations of the global business community.

What role does – and should - arbitral institutions play for arbitrators?

The needs of the parties, not the arbitrators, must be the primary consideration. An arbitral institution must also ensure clear communications between all stakeholders and operate efficiently so the arbitrators can do their job and feel supported.

There have been seismic shifts in arbitration over the last few years – what does the future look like? What are you most excited about?

As evolutionary technological advances impact every aspect of arbitration, we must be prepared to apply and integrate technology into case management and how we deliver services. With this in mind, the ICC Court launched its online case management system in October 2022 and plans to release a new platform at the end of this year that offers fully digitised dispute resolution services. And we can’t ignore the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), which is already becoming an integral component of our work. AI has the potential to make arbitration more efficient and cost-effective, a particularly attractive proposition for low-value disputes.

The ICC Guide on Disability Inclusion in Arbitration and ADR was the first document of its kind to address disability issues: why was this topic important for you, and how can other institutions build on it?

The focus on disability inclusion grew out of my experience working with a colleague who has Type 1 diabetes. During long days at our law firm and at hearings, it was eye-opening to see how he managed his condition in the most intense work situations. As the pandemic recedes, we have a unique opportunity to reshape how we work to ensure that all skilled practitioners—including those with disabilities—can fully participate. I’ve come to learn that even small gestures concerning inclusion and diversity are meaningful, such as simply asking during a case management conference whether there are any disability inclusion issues to be addressed.

As the first female President of the ICC Court, how do you make sure that you’re not the last? How can we instil the values of diversity in dispute resolution?

At the ICC Court, we have gone beyond slogans by taking concrete steps and initiatives to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of dispute prevention and resolution. We recognise that diversity is key to the legitimacy of international arbitration. Representation of decision-makers is an essential element of the rule of law, and business leaders rightly expect the arbitration community to reflect their diversity and values.

I am proud that last year, over 40% of all arbitrator appointments made by the ICC Court were women, the highest level to date. As part of our ambitious diversity and inclusion efforts, we also launched an LGBTQIA+ network at the ICC Court and then opened it up to the wider dispute resolution and prevention community.

Yet there is still more to be done. The ICC Court appoints only about one in four arbitrators worldwide, while the parties involved nominate the rest. We have seen that women are much less likely to be appointed arbitrators when nominated by the parties or by the co-arbitrators when they nominate the president of the arbitral tribunal.

One way to increase arbitrator diversity is for the parties to insist that their outside counsel provide more diverse lists of arbitrators. Both in-house and outside counsel have a pivotal role to play in ensuring that arbitrators in ICC cases reflect the growing diversity of the global business community.

For this reason, the ICC Court has also recently introduced standardised language in its model letters to parties and co-arbitrators that encourages diversity when nominating arbitrators. Additionally, the ICC Court will generally not appoint the same individual as arbitrator again for 12 months to assure a wider pool of arbitrators are being appointed. And to increase transparency and the flow of information, the ICC Court also maintains a freely accessible directory of ICC arbitral tribunals.

The ICC Court is always focused on appointing the best arbitrator for the case. Some critics wrongly suggest that quality will suffer by increasing the number of women in arbitration, but the presence of so many talented and experienced women in the field proves otherwise.

You were recently reappointed for a second three-year term in July 2024. Congratulations! Has your focus or your objectives changed?

Our mission remains the same: at a time of increasing international trade and commerce, we strive to provide the best arbitral and dispute resolution services to the global business community. That’s why we are revising and modernising the ICC Rules of Arbitration, effective on 1 January 2026, to account for the latest developments in law and practice. We are doing this with the help of all members of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, and ICC Commission Task Forces that have made recommendations for changes.

At Ciarb, our members are most interested in career advice. Do you have any tips for aspiring arbitrators?

When parties and institutions make arbitral appointments, they look not only at the prospective arbitrator’s arbitration experience but also at the governing law, language, region, industry, or other areas of experience and level of complexity, among other factors. I therefore recommend to aspiring arbitrators that you build your career and reputation as a stellar advocate, by developing substantive industry experience that would make you viewed as someone who has the requisite skills for the role.

And finally, what do you enjoy most about your job?

This job involves a tremendous amount of travel, but wherever I go, I love hearing from people around the world about how they live and of the issues they face and the goals they have.

Watch this year's Alexander Lecture which was delivered by Claudia Salomon FCIArb, the President of the ICC Court of International Arbitration, below.

This article originally appeared in Ciarb's member magazine, Resolver.