ENGLAND & WALES Law and Practice Contributed by: James Stacey, Peter Wickham, Samantha Holland and William Humphries, Slaughter and May
Slaughter and May One Bunhill Row London EC1Y 8YY UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7600 1200 Fax: +44 (0)20 7090 5000 Email: James.Stacey@SlaughterandMay.com Web: www.slaughterandmay.com
1. General 1.1 Prevalence of Arbitration
A broad range of other sectors make up not-insignifi - cant proportions of the LCIA’s caseload, including the following in 2024, for example: • technology (6%); • professional services (5%); • healthcare and pharmaceuticals (5%); and The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the LCIA are probably the most used arbitral institu - tions for international commercial arbitration in Eng - land. 1.4 National Courts Civil Procedure Rule (CPR) Part 62 and its Practice Direction and the High Court and County Courts (Allo - cation of Arbitration Proceedings) Order 1996 (the “1996 Order”) contain rules on the courts in which arbitration-related claims may be issued. • telecommunications (4%). 1.3 Arbitration Institutions The Commercial Court is the principal court for arbitration-related claims, which comprise approxi - mately 20% of all claims issued in that court. Arbitra - tion claims can also be issued in other parts of the High Court and, for the enforcement of awards, in the County Court. In deciding where to issue an arbitration claim, claim - ants should have regard to the criteria set out in the 1996 Order, which include, for example, the financial value, nature and importance of the dispute (including for any third parties).
London is consistently ranked among the leading arbitral seats in the world. A 2025 survey by Queen Mary University of London, which involved over 2,400 respondents across the world, found that London was the most preferred seat globally. The Law Commission of England and Wales (the “Law Commission”) esti - mates that at least 5,000 domestic and international arbitrations take place in England each year, poten - tially worth at least GBP2.5 billion to the economy, although the actual figures may be much higher. The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) has seen steady growth in the last decade, register - ing 362 referrals in 2024 (318 arbitrations under LCIA Rules), 95% of its cases being international in nature with parties from 101 jurisdictions. The 2025 Queen Mary University survey ranks the LCIA rules fourth in the topmost preferred sets of arbitration rules globally. 1.2 Key Industries Taking the LCIA’s data on sectors as a guide, the fol - lowing sectors dominate the LCIA’s caseload year- on-year, representing 63% of the LCIA’s caseload for 2024: • transport and commodities (29%); • banking and finance (17%); • energy and resources (10%); and • construction and infrastructure (8%).
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