"Terms of reference" in ICC court of arbitration

Since its establishment, arbitration rules of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce regulate the Terms of Reference. Turkish International Arbitration Law ("MTK") provides that the terms of reference must be issued unless the parties agree otherwise. The terms of reference is a procedural document, that is prepared by the sole arbitrator or the arbitral tribunal that will settle the dispute upon receiving the file, and signed by both the parties and the arbitrators. The terms of reference contains detailed formal information about the parties and the arbitrators, a summary of the parties' respective claims, defences and their requests for relief, notification addresses and applicable notification methods, a list of issues to be determined, the seat of the arbitration, language of the arbitration, the term of arbitration, the law applicable to the dispute, the law applicable to the arbitration procedure, whether the arbitrators are authorized to act as amiable compositeur or to decide ex aequo et bono. Terms of reference is an important characteristic instrument of the ICC arbitration and if applied properly it facilitates to have a more efficient and productive arbitration.