IV
The International Centre for Settlement
of Investment Disputes

General

15. The Convention establishes the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes as an autonomous international institution (Articles 18-24). The purpose of the Centre is "to provide facilities for conciliation and arbitration of investment disputes * * *" (Article 1(2)). The Centre will not itself engage in conciliation or arbitration activities. This will be the task of Conciliation Commissions and Arbitral Tribunals constituted in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.

16. As sponsor of the establishment of the institution the Bank will provide the Centre with premises for its seat (Article 2) and, pursuant to arrangements between the two institutions, with other administrative facilities and services (Article 6(d)).

17. With respect to the financing of the Centre (Article 17), the Executive Directors have decided that the Bank should be prepared to provide the Centre with office accommodation free of charge as long as the Centre has its seat at the Bank's headquarters and to underwrite, within reasonable limits, the basic overhead expenditure of the Centre for a period of years to be determined after the Centre is established.

18. Simplicity and economy consistent with the efficient discharge of the functions of the Centre characterize its structure. The organs of the Centre are the Administrative Council (Articles 4-8) and the Secretariat (Article 9-11). The Administrative Council will be composed of one representative of each Contracting State, serving without remuneration from the Centre. Each member of the Council casts one vote and matters before the Council are decided by a majority of the votes cast unless a different majority is required by the Convention. The President of the Bank will serve ex officio as the Council's Chairman but will have no vote. The Secretariat will consist of a Secretary-General, one or more Deputy Secretaries-General and staff. In the interest of flexibility the Convention provides for the possibility of there being more than one Deputy Secretary-General, but the Executive Directors do not now foresee a need for more than one or two full time high officials of the Centre. Article 10, which requires that the Secretary-General and any Deputy Secretary-General be elected by the Administrative Council by a majority of two-thirds of its members, on the nomination of the Chairman, limits their terms of office to a period not exceeding six years and permits their re-election. The Executive Directors believe that the initial election, which will take place shortly after the Convention will have come into force, should be for a short term so as not to deprive the States which ratify the Convention after its entry into force of the possibility of participating in the selection of the high officials of the Centre. Article 10 also limits the extent to which these officials may engage in activities other than their official functions.

Functions of the Administrative Council

19. The principal functions of the Administrative Council are the election of the Secretary-General and any Deputy Secretary-General, the adoption of the budget of the Centre and the adoption of administrative and financial regulations, rules governing the institution of proceedings and rules of procedure for conciliation and arbitration proceedings. Action on all these matters requires a majority of two-thirds of the members of the Council.

Functions of the Secretary-General

20. The Convention requires the Secretary-General to perform a variety of administrative functions as legal representative, registrar and principal officer of the Centre (Articles 7(1), 11, 16(3), 25(4), 28, 36, 49(1), 50(1), 51(1), 52(1), 54(2), 59, 60(1), 63(b) and 65). In addition, the Secretary-General is given the power to refuse registration of a request for conciliation proceedings or arbitration proceedings, and thereby to prevent the institution of such proceedings, if on the basis of the information furnished by the applicant he finds that the dispute is manifestly outside the jurisdiction of the Centre (Article 28(3) and 36(3)). The Secretary-General is given this limited power to "screen" requests for conciliation or arbitration proceedings with a view to avoiding the embarrassment to a party (particularly a State) which might result from the institution of proceedings against it in a dispute which it had not consented to submit to the Centre, as well as the possibility that the machinery of the Centre would be set in motion in cases which for other reasons were obviously outside the jurisdiction of the Centre e.g., because either the applicant or the other party was not eligible to be a party in proceedings under the Convention.

The Panels

21. Article 3 requires the Centre to maintain a Panel of Conciliators and a Panel of Arbitrators, while Articles 12-16 outline the manner and terms of designation of Panel members. In particular, Article 14(1) seeks to ensure that Panel members will possess a high degree of competence and be capable of exercising independent judgment. In keeping with the essentially flexible character of the proceedings, the Convention permits the parties to appoint conciliators and arbitrators from outside the Panels but requires (Articles 31(2) and 40(2)) that such appointees possess the qualities stated in Article 14(1). The Chairman, when called upon to appoint a conciliator or arbitrator pursuant to Article 30 or 38, is restricted in his choice to Panel members.

Previous Page Next Page