For researchers, the most frustrating aspect of arbitration is that awards and proceedings are usually confidential. In contrast to the transparency of litigation, documents relating to arbitration are not routinely published electronically or in paper. Because some arbitration awards do get published, however, you can’t assume these decisions are always unavailable.

While there are a variety of print and electronic sources for awards, not all awards are published due to confidentiality issues.  To complicate matters even further, there is no one source for locating all awards and decisions.

There are several ways to find awards.  

1.  Search LawCat by keyword or subject:   international commercial arbitration cases 

2.  Search LawCat by source publication name: 

• Example:  Yearbook Commercial Arbitration from Matermaco SA v. PPM Cranes Inc., Legris Industries SA, Tribunal de Commerce [Court of First Instance], Brussels, 20 September 1999, 25 Y.B. Comm. Arb. 673 (2000).  

3.  Search the web or LawCat for the name of the arbitral institution:  

• Example:  ICSID from M.C.I. Power Group L.C. et al. v. Ecuador, ICSID Case No. ARB/03/6, Decision on Annulment (Oct. 19, 2009). 
  • Using “Search ICSID Cases” -- you can search by claimant, respondent, or case number.

4.  Search the web or LawCat by arbitration subject matter:

• Example:  CISG 

5.  Search Berkeley Law Databases for arbitration

"Although published awards have no formal precedential value and are not binding on anyone other than the parties to whom the award was issued, arbit al awards constitute highly persuasive forms of authority, particularly with respect to procedural matters that are not typically discussed in judicial opinions. Thus, experienced advocates and arbitrators look to published awards for guidance concerning issues such as the interpretation of arbitral rules, the challenge of arbitrators, permissible procedures in hearings and the like." S.I. Strong, Research in International Commercial Arbitration: Special Skills, Special Sources, 29 Am. Rev. Int’l Arb. 119, 143 (2009).

Commercial Arbitration Collections, Web or Subscription Databases

• ICDR Awards and Commentaries (print and online AAA Int'l Ctr. Disp. Resolution awards and explanation)
• New York Arbitration Convention (court decisions by topic and by country).
• New York Convention Guide (access to cases by article or by jurisdiction).
• Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) (contains pending and past cases).
• TradeLawGuide (WTO jurisprudence) (UCB only).
• Worldtradelaw.net (a great source for commentaries on WTO panel reports and arbitrations). (UCB only).
• World Trade and Arbitration Materials 
• UNCITRAL, CLOUT (Case Law on UNICTRAL Texts) (provides summaries of court decisions and arbitral awards involving the UNCITRAL Model Law, with citations or links to full-text sources, if available).  UNCITRAL Digests:  search tool for CISG-based and Model Law-based agreements.
• UNILEX on CISG & UNIDROIT Principles: International Case Law & Bibliography (cases on the CISG and UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts; search by country, date, instrument article, or issue).
• CISG Database (large collection of national cases and arbitral awards related to CISG). Note: registration is now required to use this database.
• CISG-online (all relevant CISG case law, including links to translated versions of many cases).
• ICC Dispute Resolution Library (Awards from International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and International Court of Arbitration). (Berkeley Law only).
  • See also print ICC Arbitral Awards and The ICC International Court of Arbitration bulletin.
• SCC arbitral awards, 1999-2003 / Sigvard Jarvin and Annette Magnusson, editors.
• Yearbook Commercial Arbitration 

Investment Arbitration Collections, Web or Subscription Databases

• International Investment Law Centre, Digest for finding investment arbitration awards by search, claimant, respondent, or treaty.  1974-2002 and 2010-2023.
• ICSID Cases (browse the list or search the publicly available cases and awards; if the text is not available, there is a citation to the source).
  • Print and online ICSID Reports collection
  • Print digests for ICSID cases, 1974-2007. 
• UNCTAD Investment Dispute Settlement Navigator (contains information about known international arbitration cases initiated by investors against States pursuant to international investment agreements (IIAs). 
• Investment Claims (fully searchable collection of publicly available awards and decisions from international investment arbitrations, and related enforcement or review decisions from national courts; subscription database. (UCB only).
• Investment Treaty Arbitration (a large collection of full-text awards that can be located chronologically, alphabetically by claimant or respondent, and there is a search engine).
• Investor-State LawGuide (good for NAFTA, ICSID, and ad hoc tribunal cases; subscription database) (UCB only) Note: click "Login".
• International Arbitration Case Law (IACL) (a small collection of summaries from arbitral tribunals, international tribunals and national courts in matters of international arbitration).
• Investment Arbitration Reporter (IAReporter) (database offering access to all publicly-known investor-state claims, as well as coverage of many unpublished confidential awards)

Public International Arbitration, Commercial, and Investment Arbitration Sources

• Reports of International Arbitral Awards (U.N. Collection of arbitration awards in cases between States from the late 18 c. through mid-20th c.)
• Jus Mundi (searchable collection of commercial arbitration and investment arbitration) (UCB only).
• KluwerArbitration (searchable collection of commercial and investment decisions from national courts and awards. (UCB only). 
• Trans-Lex (search or browse by the Trans-Lex Principles; links to arbitral awards but these may not be the entire award).
• Transnational Dispute Management (TDM), Laws and Regulations by Country (awards, cases, laws, treaties). (UCB only).
• Westlaw "Arbitration Materials" (Covers several different bodies, like the ICC, ICSID, etc. Note: some of the content is not available to law school subscribers.). (Berkeley Law only).