Resolving international disputes from Geneva, under the rules the parties choose.
GIDI administers arbitration, mediation, conciliation and neutral evaluation for commercial parties across jurisdictions — flexibly, and under whichever system of rules the parties have agreed.
We also hear cases entirely online — and price them accordingly.
Online and expedited proceedings →
Geneva: a liberal arbitration law, a restrained supervisory court, and a century of hosting parties who do not trust each other.
The parties choose the rules. The institution serves that choice.
Neutral, independent, and priced so that using us is a commercial decision rather than a leap.
An arbitral institution exists to make the parties’ agreement work. Too often it does the opposite — substituting its own rulebook, its own list and its own idea of how a dispute ought to be run.
GIDI was founded to take the other view. Choosing this Institute does not oblige you to adopt a rulebook you did not negotiate for.
Read more →
GIDI Rules, UNCITRAL, rules named in a treaty or contract, or a bespoke procedure you wrote yourselves.
No State, chamber of commerce, trade body or law firm stands behind this Institute. We take no State funding, and the Secretariat administers cases — it never decides them.
Chapter 12 of the Swiss PILA, narrow judicial review, and New York Convention enforcement in 170+ jurisdictions.
Neutrals across the common law, the civil law, Islamic law and mixed systems, in the languages of commerce.
Every fee is on a published ad valorem scale with the administrative fee capped. No hourly billing by the Institute, and a calculator so you can price the dispute before you file.
Every enquiry and every filing acknowledged within two days.
Boutique by design, so that it can stay independent.
Institutions drift from neutrality less by intent than through what holds them up: the state that funds them, the chamber whose members appear before them, a caseload they cannot afford to lose. Scale brings dependence, and dependence is visible to whoever it costs.
So GIDI stays small by choice, not as a stage to grow out of. Three things follow: the parties choose the rules and we administer their bargain; we end disputes rather than prolong proceedings; and we will say plainly when mediation would serve you better than a tribunal. Arbitration is a means, not an end.
Independence →
Investor–State and State–State proceedings, from a neutral seat.
One side is a sovereign; the other has committed capital on the strength of a treaty. The forum has to be credible to both — and be seen to be credible by the public the State answers to.
- UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, including the 2021 Expedited Rules
- UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency, where a treaty calls for them
- Rules named in a BIT, an investment contract or a host-State law
- Appointing authority, challenges, deposits and hearing logistics
Four routes to a resolution
A swift, effective and economic route to an internationally enforceable award.
Final and bindingEnforceable in 170+ statesAny rules you agree → MediationA facilitative process for promoting cross-border dispute resolution.
Without prejudiceThe parties keep controlWeeks, not years → ConciliationEarly, proactive intervention to prevent a dispute from escalating.
A reasoned proposalBefore positions hardenPreserves the relationship → Neutral EvaluationSwift and cost-effective analysis for problem assessment and solution.
A non-binding viewA reality check before costOften settles the matter →The disputes we are asked to administer
Investor–State and State–State under BITs, contracts and investment laws.
Delay, variations, defects, termination and bonds, usually under FIDIC.
Concessions, production sharing, gas price review, the energy transition.
Sale of goods, shipping, trade finance, agency and distribution.
Completion accounts, warranties, earn-outs, deadlock and exit.
Licensing, FRAND, systems integration, trade secrets, data and outsourcing.
Facilities, ISDA, structured and Islamic finance, reinsurance and coverage.
Shipbuilding, charterparties, salvage; aircraft leasing and maintenance.
Tribunal use of AI: a standard clause for Procedural Order No. 1, and the other problem of records too big to read
On 30 September and 14 October 2026 the Kluwer Arbitration Blog published two proposals on AI in arbitration: a standard clause for Procedural Order No. 1 that bars tribunals from delegating decisions to AI, and case-management tools for records that AI has made too large to read.
Korea accepts the Elliott award: eight-year Samsung merger treaty claim ends with a USD 113 million payout
On 28 October 2026 Korea's Ministry of Justice said it will not challenge the 30 September 2026 remand award in favour of Elliott Associates in the High Court in London. The decision ends an eight-year KORUS FTA dispute and shows how seat, attribution and cost shape a State's choice.
Federal Court of Australia enforces LCIA award in LandOcean, rejecting a double-recovery challenge
On 22 October 2026 the Federal Court of Australia dismissed a challenge to enforcement of a London LCIA award in LandOcean v West Indies Exploration, rejecting a double-recovery argument based on a Trinidad and Tobago judgment. According to creditors' counsel, the ruling shows how narrowly public policy is applied.
Apply to the GIDI panel
GIDI maintains a panel of arbitrators, mediators, conciliators and neutral evaluators drawn from more than forty jurisdictions. Applications are reviewed by the Secretariat on a rolling basis.