The International Centre for Dispute Resolution, or ICDR, is the international branch of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), providing international arbitration and dispute resolution services. The ICDR is headquartered in New York City (U.S.A.) and also has offices in Mexico, Ireland, Bahrain and Singapore.
The ICDR has established cooperative agreements with arbitration institutions worldwide, enabling arbitration cases to be filed and heard nearly anywhere in the world. However, the arbitration clause in a business contract will often specify where the parties have agreed to hold the arbitration proceedings.
Because arbitration is a consensual process, the parties must agree to ICDR arbitration before the ICDR will become involved in a dispute. Parties will often agree to ICDR arbitration in an arbitration clause in their contract before a conflict even begins.
If there is an existing dispute with no arbitration clause, or an arbitration clause that does not provide for arbitration under the ICDR/AAA rules, the parties may file a submission agreement to the ICDR/AAA for administration of the arbitration, provided both parties agree to use ICDR.