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VI 34. Proceedings are instituted by means of a request addressed to the Secretary-General (Articles 28 and 36). After registration of the request the Conciliation Commission or Arbitral Tribunal, as the case may be, will be constituted. Reference is made to paragraph 20 above on the power of the Secretary-General to refuse registration. Constitution of Conciliation Commissions and Arbitral Tribunals 35. Although the Convention leaves the parties a large measure of freedom as regards the constitution of Commissions and Tribunals, it assures that a lack of agreement between the parties on these matters or the unwillingness of a party to cooperate will not frustrate proceedings (Articles 29-30 and 37-38, respectively). 36. Mention has already been made of the fact that the parties are free to appoint conciliators and arbitrators from outside the Panels (see paragraph 21 above). While the Convention does not restrict the appointment of conciliators with reference to nationality, Article 39 lays down the rule that the majority of the members of an Arbitral Tribunal should not be nationals of the State party to the dispute or of the State whose national is a party to the dispute. This rule is likely to have the effect of excluding persons having these nationalities from serving on a Tribunal composed of not more than three members. However, the rule will not apply where each and every arbitrator on the Tribunal has been appointed by agreement of the parties. Conciliation Proceedings; Powers and Functions of Arbitral Tribunals 37. In general, the provisions of Articles 32-35 dealing with conciliation proceedings and of Articles 41-49, dealing with the powers and functions of Arbitral Tribunals and awards rendered by such Tribunals, are self-explanatory. The differences between the two sets of provisions reflect the basic distinction between the process of conciliation which seeks to bring the parties to agreement and that of arbitration which aims at a binding determination of the dispute by the Tribunal. 38. Article 41 reiterates the well-established principle that international tribunals are to be the judges of their own competence and Article 32 applies the same principle to Conciliation Commissions. It is to be noted in this connection that the power of the Secretary-General to refuse registration of a request for conciliation or arbitration (see paragraph 20 above) is so narrowly defined as not to encroach on the prerogative of Commissions and Tribunals to determine their own competence and, on the other hand, that registration of a request by the Secretary-General does not, of course, preclude a Commission or Tribunal from finding that the dispute is outside the jurisdiction of the Centre. 39. In keeping with the consensual character of proceedings under the Convention, the parties to conciliation or arbitration proceedings may agree on the rules of procedure which will apply in those proceedings. However, if or to the extent that they have not so agreed the Conciliation Rules and Arbitration Rules adopted by the Administrative Council will apply (Articles 33 and 44). 40. Under the Convention an Arbitral Tribunal is required to apply the law agreed by the parties. Failing such agreement, the Tribunal must apply the law of the State party to the dispute (unless that law calls for the application of some other law), as well as such rules of international law as may be applicable. The term "international law" as used in this context should be understood in the sense given to it by Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, allowance being made for the fact that Article 38 was designed to apply to inter-State disputes.1 Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards 41. Article 53 declares that the parties are bound by the award and that it shall not be subject to appeal or to any other remedy except those provided for in the Convention. The remedies provided for are revision (Article 51) and annulment (Article 52). In addition, a party may ask a Tribunal which omitted to decide any question submitted to it, to supplement its award (Article 49(2)) and may request interpretation of the award (Article 50). 42. Subject to any stay of enforcement in connection with any of the above proceedings in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, the parties are obliged to abide by and comply with the award and Article 54 requires every Contracting State to recognize the award as binding and to enforce the pecuniary obligations imposed by the award as if it were a final decision of a domestic court. Because of the different legal techniques followed in common law and civil law jurisdictions and the different judicial systems found in unitary and federal or other non-unitary States, Article 54 does not prescribe any particular method to be followed in its domestic implementation, but requires each Contracting State to meet the requirements of the Article in accordance with its own legal system. 43. The doctrine of sovereign immunity may prevent the forced execution in a State of judgments obtained against foreign States or against the State in which execution is sought. Article 54 requires Contracting States to equate an award rendered pursuant to the Convention with a final judgment of its own courts. It does not require them to go beyond that and to undertake forced execution of awards rendered pursuant to the Convention in cases in which final judgments could not be executed. In order to leave no doubt on this point Article 55 provides that nothing in Article 54 shall be construed as derogating from the law in force in any Contracting State relating to immunity of that State or of any foreign State from execution. ________________ 1 Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice reads as follows:
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