A Study on the "Terms of Reference" in the ICC Rules of Arbitration

ICC 중재규칙(ICC Rules of Arbitration)의 "위탁조건"(Terms of Reference)에 관한 연구

The Terms of Reference are one of the most distictive features of ICC Arbitration. No document of this type is required to be drawn up under the rules of any of the other major international arbitration institutions. The purpose of this paper is to examine their advantages and to introduce main contents provided in Article 18 of ICC Rules of Arbitration, which results in the wide recognition of the Terms of Reference. As the volume of our international commercial transaction ranks almost ten in the world, the frequency using ICC Arbitration is expected to increase continuously. The Terms of Reference provide the parties and the arbitrators with an opportunity to identify and agree on procedural and other matters, such as the applicable law, the language of the arbitration and the timetable for the arbitration. They also afford the parties and the arbitrators to identify the substantive issues that are addressed in the arbitration and to delimit the precise scope of the Arbitract Tribunal's mandate. The contents of the Terms of Reference which are provided in Article 18(1) include the summary of parties claims, the list of issues and procedural rules. For the effects of the Terms of Reference, they are not intended to replace the parties' arbitration agreement. But they may in certain circumstances be regarded as a form of submission agreement. Article 18(2) provides that the Terms of Reference shall be signed by the parties and the Arbitral Tribunal, and requires the Arbitral Tribunal to transmit a signed copy of the Terms of Reference to the Court within two months of the date on which the file was transmitted to it by the Secretariat. The Court enjoys the power to extend the two-month time limit for the Terms of Reference on the reasoned request of the Arbitral Tribunal or on the Court's own initiative. Article 18(3) provides that if any of the parties refuses to take part in the drawing up of the Terms of Reference or to sign the same, they shall be submitted to the Court for approval. Article 18(4) allows the Arbitral Tribunal to extablish in a separate document a provisional timetable. This is a provision that encourages the acceleration of the arbitraction process. The timetable provided for therein is merely "provisional" and may be modified, as necessary, during the course of the arbitration.