ICSID's 2026 Numbers Are In — and Investment Arbitration Is Busier Than Ever
ICSID's latest caseload statistics, covering calendar year 2025, show 63 new cases registered — the second-highest annual total in the institution's history, behind only 2021. Bilateral investment treaties remained the dominant basis of jurisdiction, invoked in 58% of new cases, exactly matching the long-term historical average. In short: investment arbitration is not a maturing, settling field. It is a growing one, and growth means more contested doctrine, not less.
That growth is showing up precisely where practitioners would expect — intra-EU disputes still working through the aftermath of the CJEU's Komstroy judgment, arbitrator conflict-of-interest disclosure becoming more technical (with proposals like zero-knowledge proofs now on the table), and third-party funding regulation moving in parallel at ICSID, UNCITRAL and the EU simultaneously. None of these are settled questions. They are the live fault lines of the practice.
International Investment Arbitration: Challenges in Investment Law, edited by Mesut Akbaba and Giancarlo Capurro and drawn from the Second Bucerius Conference on International Investment Law & Arbitration, gathers emerging scholars and practitioners writing directly on these fault lines — not restating settled doctrine, but working through where the field is still being argued. A full part is devoted to the EU's post-Komstroy landscape; another to arbitrator appointment challenges and the tools now being proposed to address unconscious bias and conflicts; another to the procedural reform agenda around funding and efficiency.
For firms and institutions building out an investment arbitration practice or collection, a rising caseload means more of these disputes are coming — and more of them will turn on exactly the questions this volume addresses.
Q&A
How many new cases did ICSID register in 2025?
63 new cases — the second-highest annual total in ICSID's history, after 2021's 66 cases.
What share of new ICSID cases are based on bilateral investment treaties?
58% in 2025, consistent with the institution's long-term historical average.
Does this book address the aftermath of the Komstroy judgment?
Yes — a full part is devoted to the future of investment arbitration within the EU, including post-Komstroy intra-EU disputes.
Is arbitrator conflict of interest covered?
Yes — including emerging disclosure tools such as zero-knowledge proofs and analysis of unconscious bias in party appointments.
Where can I buy International Investment Arbitration: Challenges in Investment Law?
Directly from CLNZ Books at clnzbooks.com, with worldwide shipping and secure payment by credit card or PayPal.