Can arbitral institutions actually make arbitration faster — or is that just wishful thinking? A new chapter in the Austrian Yearbook on International Arbitration 2026 revisits this question, hotly debated at last year’s World Café during the Vienna Arbitration Days.

Four key takeaways emerged from those discussions:

(1) Efficiency demands a holistic approach. Speed, costs, fairness, and enforceability are all interconnected — however, the pursuit of efficiency must never compromise procedural fairness or award quality.

(2) Party autonomy still prevails. Delegates unanimously rejected giving institutions the power to override the parties’ agreements — institutions should take a proactive and guiding approach.

(3) One approach stands out. Linking arbitrators’ fees to efficient conduct, as practised by VIAC and the ICC, garnered far more support than any guidelines or best-practice reports.

(4) No one can afford to sit on the sidelines. Institutions can set the framework, but arbitrators, counsel, and parties must all cooperate in good faith — especially as sanctions compliance introduces new layers of complexity.

Our associate Max Murtinger, together with Catrice Gayer, explores these themes in the chapter “The (Lacking) Role of Institutions in Driving Efficiency”, published in the Austrian Yearbook on International Arbitration 2026.