The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ICOC) has been providing arbitration services for its members through its Arbitration Bureau since 1979. Upon replacement of 1927 Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) with a new Code of Civil Procedure (2011 CCP), which entered into force on 1 October 2011, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce revised its Arbitration Rules in accordance with such New Code of Procedure in 2012. Such revision fell short of meeting the requirements of a modern arbitration system which brought the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce to set up its arbitration centre (ITOTAM).

The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce has played a key role in promoting arbitration over the years. In order to provide arbitration services parallel to international practice and aligned with modern arbitration rules, ICOC as of 2014 completed its work on setting up its autonomous arbitration centre and on drafting the new rules.

The ITOTAM Arbitration and Mediation Rules was approved by the Assembly of ICOC on 16 October 2014 and with some minor additional amendments have entered into force on 9 April 2015. As of 14.04.2016 Emergency Arbitrator Rules (Annex III) and Arbitration Rules for Basic Claims (Annex IV) have entered into force and ITOTAM Arbitration Rules have been revised accordingly. On 11.03.2021, Mediation-Arbitration (MED-ARB) have entered into force. The current Rules are the ITOTAM Arbitration Rules (2021).

In drafting the Rules, the UNCITRAL 2010 Arbitration Rules and other modern arbitration rules such as ICC Arbitration Rules (2012), VIAC Rules of Arbitration, Swiss Rules of Arbitration have been taken into consideration. The Arbitration Court and the Arbitration Centre are the only bodies empowered to administer these Rules.

Parties wishing to have recourse to ITOTAM arbitration are encouraged to include an appropriate dispute resolution clause in their agreements. An example of recommended clauses can be found at the very beginning of our booklet.

Arbitration, as a widely preferred method of dispute resolution, is of great importance in contemporary commercial life. Our members or firms doing business with our members could ensure a great level of certainty as to the resolution of their potential disputes by inserting the model arbitration clause enclosed in our booklet in their contracts in order to solve their disputes in a rapid and efficient way.