In August 2009, the International Court of Arbitration (ICC) issued a Statement of Acceptance, Availability and Independence, in which arbitrators are requested to accept or decline an invitation to serve on a case and invited to provide additional information regarding his or her availability (see Legal update, ICC requests arbitrators to disclose details of availability and independence). In order to respond to concerns raised after the initial publication of the form, the ICC has issued a revised version which takes effect from January 2010. The most significant change introduced by the new version is the introduction of a separate section on availability (previously the question of an arbitrator's availability was linked to his or her acceptance of an invitation to serve on a case). The new version invites arbitrators to confirm their ability to devote the necessary amount of time to the arbitration. This is intended to encourage arbitrators to reflect more carefully on their availability. All of the information provided by an arbitrator is treated as confidential and is only used for the purpose of the case for which the prospective arbitrator is nominated.

The ICC will continue to observe the use of the form and may make further changes in the future.