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This booklet is a practical companion to the ICC Mediation Rules. Its purpose is to offer guidance on issues that deserve attention when choosing and organizing mediations.

Helpful information will be found on the many administrative and procedural questions which a party may wish to consider when preparing mediation proceedings on its own or in discussions with the other party and the mediator. Mediations may be conducted in various ways depending on the backgrounds of the parties, their advisors and the mediator and the nature of the dispute. In keeping with the spirit of mediation, the Mediation Guidance Notes do not dictate solutions, but encourage parties to work out the best arrangements for their particular case in light of common mediation practices and the flexibility offered by the ICC Mediation Rules.

Although a stand-alone procedure, mediation can also be combined with other dispute resolution procedures as part of a tiered dispute resolution process. Increasingly, mediation is considered as a useful and even an indispensable first step in situations where parties are keen on reaching a solution that upholds their mutual business or contractual interests. It can also be used once arbitration has commenced if parties wish to seek a settlement. For these reasons, the Mediation Guidance Notes also address the relationship between mediation and arbitration.

The Mediation Guidance Notes result from work and consultations conducted within the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, whose members are dispute resolution practitioners and specialists from some ninety countries worldwide. The range of legal and cultural traditions represented within the Commission allows it to transcend local differences and create products that offer a basis for international understanding between contracting parties and dispute resolution professionals.

For the convenience of users, the ICC Mediation Rules and the Mediation Guidance Notes are available in several languages and they may be downloaded in PDF format from this page. The English and French versions are the only official texts.