The world's leading arbitration and mediation institutions, by region
Forty-eight institutions in six regions, each checked against its own website for its name, its seat and its web address. A map of who administers what and where, not a ranking.
The address on the clause
An arbitration clause names an institution, but the parties end up dealing with a registry: a building, a secretariat and a set of people who will answer the telephone when a deadline is missed. This page lists where those registries are.
A map, not a league table
The companion piece, The world's leading arbitration rules, compares ten rule sets feature by feature. This page is wider and shallower. It covers the institutions practitioners in each region are most likely to meet in a clause, a tender or a counterparty's draft, and for each one it gives the facts needed to identify it correctly.
We applied two rules when compiling it.
Included only if checked. Each entry's full name, seat and website were confirmed on the institution's own website, or in its founding instrument, on the date of the last review. Where an institution's own site gave us a city but no more, that is all we print. Short notes are limited to facts the institution states about itself, such as when it was founded, where its offices are, or a name it used before.
Not a ranking. Order within a region is roughly by how often we see the institution named in international contracts. That is our judgement. It is not a measured statistic, and nothing here says one institution is better than another.
Mediation-only bodies are marked in the note column; services offered change, so check each institution's current service list.
Europe
| Institution | Full name | Seat | Website | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICC | ICC International Court of Arbitration; ICC International Centre for ADR | Paris | iccwbo.org | Since 1923. Secretariat offices in Paris, New York, São Paulo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi. |
| LCIA | London Court of International Arbitration | London | lcia.org | — |
| SCC | SCC Arbitration Institute | Stockholm | sccarbitrationinstitute.se | "Since 1917", as the institution describes itself. |
| Swiss Arbitration Centre | Swiss Arbitration Centre (Swiss Rules) | Geneva, Zurich, Lugano | swissarbitration.org | Offices in all three cities. |
| DIS | German Arbitration Institute (Deutsche Institution für Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit) | Bonn | disarb.org | Head office in Bonn, second office in Berlin. |
| VIAC | Vienna International Arbitral Centre | Vienna | viac.eu | Active since 1975. |
| NAI | Netherlands Arbitration Institute | Rotterdam | nai.nl | — |
| PCA | Permanent Court of Arbitration | The Hague | pca-cpa.org | Peace Palace. An intergovernmental organisation, not a commercial chamber. |
| CAM | Milan Chamber of Arbitration (Camera Arbitrale di Milano) | Milan | camera-arbitrale.it | Current Arbitration Rules in force since 1 March 2023. |
| CEDR | CEDR | London | cedr.com | Mediation body: commercial mediation and mediator training. |
| ISTAC | Istanbul Arbitration Centre | Istanbul | istac.org.tr | Also publishes Med-Arb Rules. |
Choosing within Europe
The European institutions overlap more than those in any other region. In practice the choice usually comes down to the seat and the language: which courts will supervise the arbitration, and in which language the registry works best.
Is the institution's home city also your seat, and does it need to be?East, South-East and South Asia
| Institution | Full name | Seat | Website | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SIAC | Singapore International Arbitration Centre | Singapore | siac.org.sg | Began operations in July 1991. Based at Maxwell Chambers. |
| SIMC | Singapore International Mediation Centre | Singapore | simc.com.sg | Mediation body. Runs the Arb-Med-Arb Protocol with SIAC. |
| HKIAC | Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre | Hong Kong | hkiac.org | Founded 1985. |
| CIETAC | China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission | Beijing | cietac.org | Sub-commissions in China and Hong Kong, plus centres in Vancouver and Vienna. |
| SHIAC | Shanghai International Arbitration Center | Shanghai | shiac.org | Founded 1988. |
| SCIA | Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration | Shenzhen | scia.com.cn | Founded 1983. |
| KCAB International | KCAB International (Korean Commercial Arbitration Board) | Seoul | kcabinternational.or.kr | — |
| JCAA | Japan Commercial Arbitration Association | Tokyo | jcaa.or.jp | Head office in Tokyo. |
| AIAC | Asian International Arbitration Centre | Kuala Lumpur | aiac.world | Describes itself as the first regional centre established by AALCO in Asia. |
The Gulf and the wider region
| Institution | Full name | Seat | Website | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIAC | Dubai International Arbitration Centre | Dubai | diac.com | Rules revised in 2022 (see the rules comparison). |
| arbitrateAD | Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre | Abu Dhabi | arbitratead.ae | — |
| SCCA | Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration | Riyadh | sadr.org | Established by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 257 (2014). |
| QICCA | Qatar International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration | Doha | qicca.org | The Qatar Chamber's centre. |
| BCDR | Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution | Manama | bcdr.org | — |
| GCCCAC | Commercial Arbitration Centre for the States of the Gulf Cooperation Council | Bahrain | gcccac.org | — |
CRCICA in Cairo also serves the Arab world as a whole. It is listed under Africa.
North, East, West and Southern Africa
| Institution | Full name | Seat | Website | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRCICA | Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration | Cairo | crcica.org | Established in 1979 under the auspices of AALCO. |
| AFSA | Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa | Johannesburg (Sandton) | arbitration.co.za | Branch offices in Cape Town, Pretoria and Durban. |
| LCA | Lagos Court of Arbitration | Lagos | lca.org.ng | Established under Lagos State's LCA Law No. 17 of 2009. |
| NCIA | Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration | Nairobi | ncia.or.ke | — |
| KIAC | Kigali International Arbitration Centre | Kigali | kiac.org.rw | Established by Rwandan Law No. 51/2010. |
| MIAC | Mauritius International Arbitration Centre | Mauritius | miac.mu | Ran as a joint venture with the LCIA (LCIA-MIAC) from 2011 to 2018. |
The United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean
| Institution | Full name | Seat | Website | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | American Arbitration Association | New York | adr.org | Headquarters in New York. |
| ICDR | International Centre for Dispute Resolution | New York | icdr.org | The AAA's international division, founded in 1996. |
| JAMS | JAMS | United States, multiple offices | jamsadr.com | — |
| CPR | International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution | New York | cpradr.org | — |
| FINRA DR | FINRA Dispute Resolution Services | United States | finra.org | — |
| VanIAC | Vancouver International Arbitration Centre | Vancouver | vaniac.org | Known as the BCICAC until 1 September 2020. |
| ADRIC | ADR Institute of Canada | Ottawa | adric.ca | Current Arbitration Rules effective 1 March 2025. |
| CAM | Centro de Arbitraje de México | Mexico City | camex.com.mx | — |
| BVI IAC | BVI International Arbitration Centre | Road Town, Tortola | bviiac.org | — |
Brazil and the Andean and Southern Cone states
| Institution | Full name | Seat | Website | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAM-CCBC | Centro de Arbitragem e Mediação da Câmara de Comércio Brasil-Canadá | São Paulo | ccbc.org.br | — |
| CAMARB | Câmara de Mediação e Arbitragem Empresarial – Brasil | Belo Horizonte | camarb.com.br | — |
| Câmara FGV | Câmara FGV de Mediação e Arbitragem | Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo | camara.fgv.br | — |
| CAM Santiago | Centro de Arbitraje y Mediación de la Cámara de Comercio de Santiago | Santiago | ccs.cl/camsantiago | — |
| CCL | Centro de Arbitraje de la Cámara de Comercio de Lima | Lima | arbitrajeccl.com.pe | — |
| PUCP | Centro de Análisis y Resolución de Conflictos, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú | Lima | carc.pucp.edu.pe | — |
| CAC Bogotá | Centro de Arbitraje y Conciliación de la Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá | Bogotá | centroarbitrajeconciliacion.com | — |
The global mediation centre not listed above
The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, based in Geneva at wipo.int/amc, specialises in intellectual property and technology disputes. It runs a combined mediation-then-arbitration procedure that the Med-Arb piece discusses.
Three checks before a name goes into the clause
The exact name
Several institutions have changed their names in the last decade, and a clause that names a body that no longer exists by that name is an invitation to argue. The full names above are taken from each institution's own site on the date of review.
Does the clause use the institution's current name?The registry and the seat
The institution's home city is not automatically the seat. The seat is a legal choice with its own supervising courts, and it should be written into the clause separately.
Is the seat stated, or left to be inferred from the institution?The rules in force
Most institutions apply the rules in force when the arbitration starts, not when the contract was signed, unless the parties agree otherwise. A clause signed today will probably be run under a later revision.
Have you read the current rules, not the version you remember?
The institution you name runs the registry. The seat you name decides which courts supervise it.
A clause needs both, written separately.
How this page is maintained
Reviewed quarterly, and whenever an institution changes its name, its seat or its rules. Corrections are made in place and the revision number is raised. A link to this page will always lead to the current text, never to an old copy. An institution is added only once its name, seat and website have been confirmed on its own site. Where a site was unavailable on the day of review, the entry is marked for checking at the next review. If an entry is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Sources (institutions' own sites, checked 29 Oct 2026, Europe/Istanbul)
Europehttps://iccwbo.org/dispute-resolution/ · https://www.iccwbo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/08/ICC_2025_DRS_Statistics_Report_EN.pdf (ICC 2025 Statistics report: Secretariat offices, since 1923) · https://www.lcia.org · https://sccarbitrationinstitute.se/en · https://www.swissarbitration.org/centre/ · https://www.disarb.org/en/contact · https://www.viac.eu/en · https://www.nai.nl/contact-us/ · https://pca-cpa.org/en/home/ · https://www.camera-arbitrale.it/it/contatti/index.php?id=31 · https://www.cedr.com · https://istac.org.tr/en/
Asiahttps://siac.org.sg/about-us · https://www.simc.com.sg · https://hkiac.org/about-us/ · https://www.cietac.org/en · https://www.shiac.org/pc/SHIAC?moduleCode=aboutus · http://en.scia.com.cn/AboutSCIA.html · https://www.kcabinternational.or.kr · https://www.jcaa.or.jp/en/about/access.html · https://www.aiac.world
Middle Easthttps://www.diac.com · https://www.arbitratead.ae · https://www.sadr.org/public/upload/pdf-files/SCCA-Establishment-Decree-En.pdf · https://qicca.org · https://bcdr.org · https://www.gcccac.org/en/
Africahttps://crcica.org/about-us/ · https://arbitration.co.za · https://lca.org.ng · https://ncia.or.ke · https://rwandalii.org/akn/rw/act/law/2010/51/eng@2011-02-28 (KIAC establishing law) · https://miac.mu
North Americahttps://go.adr.org/new-york-headquarters · https://www.icdr.org · https://www.jamsadr.com · https://www.cpradr.org · https://www.finra.org/arbitration-mediation · https://vaniac.org/about-us/history/ · https://adric.ca/rules-codes/arbrules/ · https://www.camex.com.mx · https://bviiac.org/contact/
South Americahttps://www.ccbc.org.br/cam-ccbc-centro-arbitragem-mediacao/ · https://camarb.com.br · https://camara.fgv.br · https://www.ccs.cl/camsantiago/ · https://www.arbitrajeccl.com.pe/en/ · https://carc.pucp.edu.pe · https://www.centroarbitrajeconciliacion.com
Otherhttps://www.wipo.int/amc/en/ · https://analytec.io/bulletin/arbitration-rules