:: International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ::

XII. DESIGNATION OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
OF ICSID AS APPOINTING AUTHORITY OF
AD HOC ARBITRATORS

From time to time, parties to existing or potential disputes seek the assistance of the Secretary-General of the Centre in arranging for ad hoc (i.e., noninstitutional) arbitration by having him appoint some or all of the arbitrators in certain defined contingencies. This may in particular be done in the context of agreements providing for arbitration in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)¹⁸), which are specially designed for ad hoc proceedings. Although the Secretary-General has often undertaken to act as appointing authority of ad hoc arbitrators, he is not obliged to do so. It is thus advisable for parties wishing to entrust such a task to the Secretary-General to obtain his consent in advance, preferably before the agreement incorporating the assignment is concluded.

The following is an example of a clause referring to the Secretary-General of ICSID as appointing authority of ad hoc arbitrators. This is a clause providing for arbitration under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. It is based on the model text published with those Rules, to which the designation of the Secretary-General is added here.

Clause 22

Any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this contract, or the breach, termination or invalidity thereof, shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules as at present in force. The appointing authority shall be the Secretary-General of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. [The number of arbitrators shall be [one]/[three]. The place of arbitration shall be name of town or country. The languages to be used in the arbitral proceedings shall be name of language(s).]

18 - U.N. Doc. A/31/17 (1976).