The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute (ICSID or the Centre) is one of the five organizations that make up the World Bank Group. It was established in 1966 under the ICSID Convention, and functions as a specialized international arbitration institution. ICSID began its operations in 1967.

The seat of the Centre is at the World Bank’s Headquarters in Washington, D.C. (United States of America). ICSID has three official languages, English, French and Spanish.

The ICSID Convention provides not only institutional but also procedural frameworks for the settlement of investment disputes between governments and foreign investors. ICSID’s principal role pursuant to the Convention is to provide institutional facilities for the conduct of conciliation and arbitration proceedings brought under its auspices. In this respect, ICSID performs a range of administrative functions in the initiation and conduct of conciliation and arbitration proceedings.

ICSID does not itself conciliate or arbitrate disputes. This is the role of independent conciliation commissions and arbitral tribunals constituted in each case.

In addition to its dispute settlement activities, ICSID carries out advisory and research activities relevant to its objectives, maintains a publication program and contributes internationally to conferences and other training events. The publications of the Centre include multivolume collections of Investment Laws of the World and Investment Treaties. Since 1986, the Centre has published a semi-annual law journal, entitled ICSID Review—Foreign Investment Law Journal.