SCC

The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (the "SCC") was established in 1917 and is a separate entity within the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. Recognised in the 1970s by the United States and the Soviet Union as a neutral centre for the resolution of the East-West trade disputes, the SCC has since expanded its services in international arbitration to over 40 countries. Over the past few decades the SCC has emerged as one of the leading arbitration institutions in the world.

The current Arbitration Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (“SCC Rules”) entered into force on 1 January 2017 and apply (unless the parties agree otherwise) to arbitrations under the SCC Rules commenced on or after that date.

According to the SCC Rules an award shall be rendered not later than six months as from the date when the case was referred to the Arbitral Tribunal. The SCC arbitration procedure under the SCC Rules is generally quicker than the ICC rules as there is no requirement for Terms of Reference and no review of the final award.

In relation to arbitration costs, the SCC Rules provides fixed minimum/maximum fees. These fees are proportional to the amount in dispute. A costs calculator can be found on the SCC Website.

The 2017 version of the SCC Rules introduced a number of revisions to the 2010 SCC Rules. Aside from a number provisions on joinder, multiple contracts and consolidation of arbitrations, the main thrust of the revised SCC rules is increasing efficiency and expeditiousness of proceedings. In that regard, the main innovation is a new article (Article 39) permitting a party to request that the Arbitral Tribunal decide one or more issues without necessarily undertaking every procedural step that would otherwise be adopted in the arbitration. Whether to grant such a request and what form of procedure is to be applied to the issue(s) is then left to the Arbitral Tribunal. Click here to read more about these revisions.

Apart from the SCC Rules the SCC has adopted Expedited Arbitration Rules, the SCC’s Procedures and Services under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, and Mediation Rules.

As of 1 January 2017, a new version of the SCC's Expedited Arbitration Rules also came into force and contain similar revisions to those made to the SCC Rules (and likewise will apply to any arbitration under the Expedited Rules commenced on or after that date - unless otherwise agreed). The Expedited Rules allow only one written statement per party in addition to the Statement of Claim and the Statement of Defence.