You are here:
WorldLII >>
Databases >>
Project on International Courts and Tribunals (PICT) Resources >>
2004 >>
[2004] PICTRes 2
[Database Search]
[Name Search]
[Recent Documents]
[Noteup]
[Help]
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes - Description [2004] PICTRes 2 (26 February 2004)
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
The
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
was established in 1965 by the Convention on the Settlement of Investment
Disputes between States and Nationals
of Other States (which has been
ratified to date by 136 states), to facilitate the settlement of disputes
arising
between states and foreign private investors by way of arbitration
and conciliation.
Moreover, since 1978, ICSID's reach has been extended by the Additional
Facility for the Administration of Conciliation,
Arbitration and Fact-Finding
Procedures (Additional Facility). The Additional Facility enables utilization
of
ICSID arbitration and conciliation facilities by states not parties
to the ICSID Convention (or nationals of such states)
and in regard to
disputes other than investment disputes. The Additional Facility also
provides interested parties
with the ability to engage in fact-finding.
ICSID operates under the institutional framework of the World Bank group
in Washington, D.C. Like the Permanent
Court of Arbitration or the International
Chamber of Commerce, ICSID is not a standing court, but rather a permanent
administrative structure supporting and facilitating ad hoc dispute settlement
procedures. The Centre maintains
a list of potential arbitrators and conciliators
for parties to choose from; and provides a host of registry and secretariat
services.
Provisions on ICSID arbitration are commonly found in investment
contracts between governments of member countries
and investors from other
member countries. Advance consent by governments to submit investment
disputes to ICSID
arbitration can also be found in about twenty investment
laws, and in over 900 bilateral investment treaties. Until the
mid-1980s,
jurisdiction of ICSID's arbitrations was mostly founded upon a compromissory
clause contained in an
investment contract or similar instrument. Since
then, an increasing number of cases have been arbitrated under ICSID's
aegis, on the basis of consents to ICSID arbitration contained in investment
laws and treaties.
Recourse to conciliation and arbitration under the ICSID Convention is
entirely voluntary. No contracting state
or national of such a state is
obliged to resort to conciliation or arbitration without having consented
to do
so. However, once the parties have consented, they are bound to
carry out their undertaking and, in the case of arbitration,
to abide
by the award. Moreover, all contracting states, whether or not parties
to the dispute, are required
to recognize awards rendered pursuant to
the ICSID Convention as binding and to enforce the pecuniary obligations
imposed thereby. Such awards are not subject to any appeal or to any other
remedy except those that, like the remedy
of annulment, are provided for
in the Convention itself.
In recent years the number of cases submitted to ICSID, both under the
Convention and cases brought under the
Additional Facility, has increased
significantly. To date, more than 60 cases have been submitted to ICSID
(mostly
for arbitration), involving more than 30 different governments.
Almost invariably the plaintiff is a foreign private investor,
and the
defendant a state, very often a developing country. While in the early
years, most cases concerned performance
of investment contracts by the
state, nowadays, most concern claims over such events as civil strife,
alleged
expropriation or denials of justice, and actions of the state
political subdivisions (e.g., regions or federated states).
Data obtained from the Project on International Courts and Tribunals (PICT)
WorldLII:
Copyright Policy
|
Disclaimers
|
Privacy Policy
|
Feedback
URL: http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/PICTRes/2004/2.html
