Statistics 2022: For the first time ever, the SCC appoints a majority of female arbitrators

The SCC’s activities were significantly impacted by the ongoing war in Ukraine and the troubling economic situation that surfaced in 2022. The business community continues to face hardships and challenges with delivery delays, lower order intake, savings packages, delayed business projects, decreased or paused investment, and much more. These variables, of course, also had an influence on the number of cases that the SCC administered.

– For the SCC, we continue to note a drop in the number of cases handled when compared to our historic high in 2020. However, despite fewer arbitrations being commenced at the SCC during 2022, we see a significant increase in the amounts in dispute this year compared to last year, an increase from EUR 840 million to EUR 1.6 billion, says Caroline Falconer, Secretary General at the SCC.  

The SCC continues to handle disputes in a timely and cost-efficient manner  

As always, the ability to quickly resolve disputes is of great importance to the users of dispute resolution services. This becomes even more important during uncertain times. Despite the considerable increase in dispute value, the SCC continues to handle disputes in a timely and cost-efficient manner. During 2022, 67 percent of the disputes administered under the SCC Arbitration Rules were concluded within 12 months (from referral to award). For disputes administered under the SCC Expedited Arbitration Rules, 84 percent were concluded within 6 months.  

– I am proud that the SCC is such a reliable arbitration institute and that we can live up to our users’ high standards when it comes to resolving disputes in a cost and time efficient manner, says Caroline Falconer. 

The SCC is a truly international arbitration institute 

As with previous years, a considerable number of the cases the SCC administered in 2022 were international. Almost every other case (48 percent) was handled in English, with 41 percent of the parties coming from countries other than Sweden. In fact, 47 percent of the cases did not include any Swedish parties at all. For the cases commenced 2022, parties came from 38 different countries in total.  

– It is clear that the SCC is a truly international arbitration institute, favored for its neutral and user-friendly position in the international dispute resolution services market, says Caroline Falconer.  

For the first time ever, the SCC appoints a majority of female arbitrators   

For the first time in its history, the SCC board appointed a majority of female arbitrators with women making up 54 percent of the arbitrators appointed by the SCC in 2022. This is clearly in line with the gender equality goal that the SCC is working towards and is consistent with the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge signed by the SCC.  

Most of the arbitrators in SCC arbitrations in 2022 were, however, appointed by the parties. Of the party appointed arbitrators, only 27 percent were women. In spite of that, when appointments by the SCC and the parties are combined, 34 percent of arbitrators appointed in SCC arbitrations in 2022 were women. This is an increase compared to last year when the total was 29 percent and it is almost double the number of women arbitrators appointed in SCC arbitrations in 2017, where only 18 percent of the arbitrators appointed were women. 

– Even though there has been good progress, it is obvious that women are still under-represented on international arbitral tribunals. More work has to be done to achieve fair representation and the SCC will continue striving for gender equality, says Caroline Falconer. 

The full SCC statistics for 2022 

The full SCC statistics for 2022 are available here.