Email this article ICSID Annulment: Legal Triumph or Political Galumph?
Abstract
The establishment of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) was driven by the objective of enabling an arbitration process characterized by complete autonomy, self-containment, and independence. One of the significant features of the ICSID system is the capacity to request the annulment of arbitral awards made under its auspices. The annulment process is governed by Article 52(1) of the ICSID Convention and is limited to the grounds set out there in without examining the merits or legal facts. Under Article 52(1)(a) of the ICSID Convention, either party may submit a written application seeking annulment on the grounds of the improper constitution of the tribunal. This ground is rarely invoked, and an award was only annulled for the first time in 2020. There is no consensus on the conditions under which this ground may be invoked. This research aims to discuss the applicable standard of the ICSID annulment grounds concerning the improper constitution of the Tribunal. A normative legal method focusing on the statute and case approaches is applied to achieve this objective. After reviewing previous legal cases, the annulment standard regarding the tribunal's improper constitution is quite uncertain within the ICSID framework. To improve the awards, scholars have proposed various proposals for reforming the ICSID annulment system, such as establishing a doctrine of "precedent," a single appellate body, and precise requirements for arbitrators to be impartial.
Keywords
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.19166/lr.v23i2.7475
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Laws and Regulations
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Arbitration Rules
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Convention
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Institution Rules
Books
Cheng, Bin. “General Principles of Law as Applied by International Courts and Tribunals.” In British Contributions to International Law, 1915-2015, 447-73. Leiden: BRILL, 2021.
Giorgetti, Chiara. Litigating International Investment Disputes: A Practitioner’s Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2014.
Kryvoi, Yarik, Johannes Koepp and Jack Biggs. Empirical Study: Annulment in ICSID Arbitration. London: BIICL & Baker Botts, 2021.
Moore, Christopher Laurie Achtouk-Spivak and Zeïneb Bouraoui. “ICSID Awards.” In Global Arbitration Review: The Guide to Challenging and Enforcing Arbitration Awards 2021, 152-65. London: Law Business Research Ltd, 2021.
Schreuer, Christoph, et. al. Schreuer's Commentary on the ICSID Convention: A Commentary on the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Sheppard, Audley. “Arbitrator Independence in ICSID Arbitration.” in International Investment Law for the 21st Century: Essays in Honour of Christoph Schreuer, 131- 56. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2009.
Soekanto, Soerjono and Sri Mamudji. Penelitian Hukum Normatif: Suatu Tinjauan Singkat. Jakarta: Rajawali Pers, 2003.
Journal Articles
Bermann, George A. “Understanding ICSID Article 54.” ICSID Review - Foreign Investment Law Journal 35, Issue 1-2 (2020): 311-344. https://doi.org/10.1093/icsidreview/siaa020.
Bottini, Gabriel. “Present and Future of ICSID Annulment: The Path to an Appellate Body?” ICSID Review - Foreign Investment Law Journal 31, no. 3 (2016): 712–727.
Connery, Andrew T. “Fairness, and Consistency: Striking a Balance in ICSID Annulment Proceedings Concerning Arbitrator Bias.” Columbia Business Law Review, no. 1 (2020): 287- 335. https://doi.org/10.52214/cblr.v2020i1.7160.
Delaume, Georges. “The Finality of Arbitration Involving States: Recent Developments.” Arbitration International 5, no. 1 (1989): 21-34. https://doi.org/10.1093/arbitration/5.1.21.
Kim, Dohyun. “The Annulment Committee’s Role in Multiplying Inconsistency in ICSID Arbitration: The Need to Move Away From an Annulment-Based System.” New York University Law Review 86, no. 1 (2011): 242-279. https://www.nyulawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/NYULawReview-86-1-Kim.pdf.
Pauker, Saar and Benny Winston. “Eiser v Spain – Unprecedented Annulment of an ICSID Award for Improper Constitution of the Tribunal.” The Journal of World Investment & Trade 22, no. 2 (2021): 313-328. https://doi/org/10.1163/22119000-12340205.
Pinsolle, Philippe. “The Annulment of ICSID Arbitral Awards.” The Journal of World Investment & Trade 1, no.1 (2000): 243-257. https://doi.org/10.1163/221190000X00087.
Thesis or Dissertations
Popov, Nikolay. “The Effectiveness of the Grounds for the Annulment of ICSID Awards.” Master’s Thesis, Uppsala Universitet, Uppsala, 2020.
International Conventions/Treaties
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
Court and/or Arbitration Rulings[A1]
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Azurix v. The Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No ARB/01/12), 1 September 2009.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Carnegie Minerals (Gambia) Limited v. Republic of the Gambia (ICSID Case No. ARB/09/19), 7 July 2020.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Border Timbers Limited, Timber Products International (Private) Limited, and Hangani Development Co. (Private) Limited v. Republic of Zimbabwe (ICSID Case No. ARB/10/25), 21 November 2018.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, CDC Group plc v. Republic of Seychelles (ICSID Case No. ARB/02/14), 29 June 2005.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Compagnie d'Exploitation du Chemin de Fer Transgabonais v. Gabonese Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/04/5), 11 May 2010.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Cube Infrastructure Fund SICAV and others v. Kingdom of Spain (ICSID Case No. ARB/15/20), 28 March 2022.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, DS)2, S.A., Peter de Sutter and Kristof De Sutter v. Republic of Madagascar (II) (ICSID Case No. ARB/17/18), 14 Oktober 2022.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, EDF International S.A., SAUR International S.A. and León Participaciones Argentinas S.A. v. Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/03/23), 5 February 2016.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Eiser Infrastructure Limited and Energía Solar Luxembourg S.à r.l. v. Kingdom of Spain (ICSID Case No. ARB/13/36), 11 June 2020.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, OI European Group B.V. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (ICSID Case No. ARB/11/25), 6 December 2018.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Maritime International Nominees Establishment v. Republic of Guinea (ICSID Case No. ARB/84/4), 22 December 1989.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Mobil Exploration and Development Inc. Suc. Argentina and Mobil Argentina S.A. v. Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/04/16), 8 May 2019.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Orascom TMT Investments S.à r.l. v. People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (ICSID Case No. ARB/12/35), 17 September 2022.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Víctor Pey Casado and President Allende Foundation v. Republic of Chile (ICSID Case No. ARB/98/2), 18 December 2012.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Víctor Pey Casado and President Allende Foundation v. Republic of Chile (ICSID Case No. ARB/98/2), 8 January 2020.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Poštová banka, a.s. and Istrokapital SE v. Hellenic Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/13/8), 29 September 2016.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, RSM Production Corporation v. Saint Lucia (ICSID Case No. ARB/12/10), 29 April 2019.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Suez, Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona S.A., and InterAgua Servicios Integrales del Agua S.A. v. The Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/03/17), 17 April 2003.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Compañiá de Aguas del Aconquija S.A. and Vivendi Universal S.A. v. Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/97/3) (formerly Compañía de Aguas del Aconquija, S.A. and Compagnie Générale des Eaux v. Argentine Republic), 10 Agustus 2010.
Decision of the ad hoc Committee on the Application for Annulment, Compañiá de Aguas del Aconquija S.A. and Vivendi Universal S.A. v. Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/97/3) (formerly Compañía de Aguas del Aconquija, S.A. and Compagnie Générale des Eaux v. Argentine Republic), 5 May 2017.
Reports
ICSID Secretariat. Background Paper on Annulment For the Administrative Council of ICSID. Washington: ICSID World Bank, 2012.
ICSID Secretariat. Possible Improvement of the Framework for ICSID Arbitration. Washington, DC: International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute, 2004.
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute. The ICSID Case Load - Statistics Issue 2021-I. Washington: ICSID World Bank, 2022.
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute. The ICSID Case Load - Statistics Issue 2021-II. Washington: ICSID World Bank, 2023.
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute. The ICSID Case Load - Statistics Issue 2023-II. Washington: ICSID World Bank, 2023.
Website Contents
ICSID. “About ICSID.” Accessed on 12 April 2022. https://icsid.worldbank.org/About/ICSID.
ICSID. “Decisions on Annulment.” Accessed on 21 April 2023. https://icsid.worldbank.org/cases/content/tables-of-decisions/annulment.
Personal Communications
Discussion with Dominique T. Hascher (Member of ad hoc committee Eiser v. Spain), May 24, 2023.
E-mail message to Gavan Griffith KC (President of the Ad Hoc Annulment Committees in Azurix v Argentina), April 2, 2023.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2023 Adinda Putri Prakasa, Aurora Meliala
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.