Chapter II
Institution of Proceedings

Article 2
The Request

(1) Any State or any national of a State wishing to institute arbitration proceedings shall send a request to that effect in writing to the Secretariat at the seat of the Centre. It shall be drawn up in an official language of the Centre, shall be dated and shall be signed by the requesting party or its duly authorized representative.

(2) The request may be made jointly by the parties to the dispute.

Article 3
Contents of the Request

(1) The request shall:

(a) designate precisely each party to the dispute and state the address of each;

(b) set forth the relevant provisions embodying the agreement of the parties to refer the dispute to arbitration;

(c) indicate the date of approval by the Secretary-General pursuant to Article 4 of the Additional Facility Rules of the agreement of the parties providing for access to the Additional Facility;

(d) contain information concerning the issues in dispute and an indication of the amount involved, if any; and

(e) state, if the requesting party is a juridical person, that it has taken all necessary internal actions to authorize the request.

(2) The request may in addition set forth any provisions agreed by the parties regarding the number of arbitrators and the method of their appointment, as well as any other provisions agreed concerning the settlement of the dispute.

(3) The request shall be accompanied by five additional signed copies and by the fee prescribed pursuant to Regulation 16 of the Administrative and Financial Regulation of the Centre.

Article 4
Registration of the Request

As soon as the Secretary-General shall have satisfied himself that the request conforms in form and substance to the provisions of Article 3 of these Rules, he shall register the request in the Arbitration (Additional Facility) Register and on the same day dispatch to the parties a notice of registration. He shall also transmit a copy of the request and of the accompanying documentation (if any) to the other party to the dispute.

Article 5
Notice of Registration

The notice of registration of a request shall:

(a) record that the request is registered and indicate the date of the registration and of the dispatch of the notice;

(b) notify each party that all communications in connection with the proceeding will be sent to the address stated in the request, unless another address is indicated to the Secretariat;

(c) unless such information has already been provided, invite the parties to communicate to the Secretary-General any provisions agreed by them regarding the number and the method of appointment of the arbitrators;

(d) remind the parties that the registration of the request is without prejudice to the powers and functions of the Arbitral Tribunal in regard to competence and the merits; and

(e) invite the parties to proceed, as soon as possible, to constitute an Arbitral Tribunal in accordance with Chapter III of these Rules.