International Arbitration Survey 2025
The current year's edition titled: "The path forward: Realities and opportunities in arbitration" has been published.
The 2025 International Arbitration Survey the fourteenth major empirical project conducted by the School of International Arbitration (SIA), Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). It is entitled “The path forward: Realities and opportunities in arbitration”, investigates current trends in user preferences and perceptions, and opportunities to shape the future innovation and development of the practise of international arbitration. It explores how users of international arbitration view pressing issues such as how to tackle inefficiencies, the competing interests of confidentiality and transparency in relation to disputes involving public interest issues, trends in enforcement of awards and the transformative potential of technology.
This edition saw the widest ever pool of participants. 2,402 questionnaire responses received, that is almost double the number who participated in our 2021 International Arbitration Survey. In addition, the White & Case PDRA at SIA/QMUL, Dr. Thomas Lehmann, conducted 117 interviews. Views were sought from a diverse pool of participants, including in-house counsel from both public and private sectors, arbitrators, private practitioners, representatives of arbitral institutions and interest groups, academics, tribunal secretaries, experts and third-party funders. The survey provides a breakdown of some results by categories of respondents, such as by their primary role or the geographic regions in which they principally practise or operate, providing unique insight into the range of views expressed by different stakeholders across the international arbitration community.
The School of International Arbitration is pleased to have partnered again with global law firm White & Case. The 2025 Survey provides valuable empirical insights into what users of international arbitration want and their expectations for the future.