What is required for the Request for Arbitration?
Claimant wishing to commence ICSID arbitration must file Request for Arbitration (RFA) at
ICSID Secretary-General. Article 36 of ICSID Convention provides ‘(1) Any Contracting State
or any national of a Contracting State wishing to institute arbitration proceedings shall address
a request to that effect in writing to the Secretary-General who shall send a copy of the request
to the other party. (2) The request shall contain information concerning the issues in dispute,
the identity of the parties and their consent to arbitration in accordance with the rules of
procedure for the institution of conciliation and arbitration proceedings. (3) The Secretary-
General shall register the request unless he finds, on the basis of the information contained in
the request, that the dispute is manifestly outside the jurisdiction of the Centre. He shall
forthwith notify the parties of registration or refusal to register.’ The checklist of information
contained in the RFA can be found here.
Language
Under Administrative and Financial Regulation 34(1), the ICSID official languages are
English, French and Spanish. The RFA should be drafted in one of these languages. This choice
of language does not affect the choice of procedural language for the arbitral proceedings,
which is determined by Rule 22 of the Arbitration Rules.
Fees
Rule 5(b) of the Institution Rules provides that the Secretary-General shall ‘take no other
action with respect to the request until he has received payment of the prescribed fee’.
Regulation 16 of the Administrative and Financial Regulations of the ICSID provides that
‘The party or parties (if a request is made jointly) wishing to institute a conciliation or
arbitration proceeding, requesting a supplementary decision to, or the rectification,
interpretation, revision or annulment of an arbitral award, or requesting resubmission of a
dispute to a new Tribunal after the annulment of an arbitral award, shall pay to the Centre a
non-refundable fee determined from time to time by the Secretary-General.’ As of July 2020,
the prescribed fee is USD$25,000, which is non-refundable 1 . After receipt of this fee, the
Secretary-General transmits a copy of the RFA and accompanying documentation to the other
party under Rule 5(2) of the Institution Rules.
‘Screening’ of Request by the Secretary-General
Under Article 36(3) of ICSID Convention and Rule 6(1) of Institution Rules, the Secretary-
General must ‘screen’ the request before its registration. ‘(3) The Secretary-General shall
register the request unless he finds, on the basis of the information contained in the request,
that the dispute is manifestly outside the jurisdiction of the Centre. He shall forthwith notify
the parties of registration or refusal to register.’ ‘(1) The Secretary-General shall, subject to
Rule 5(1)(b), as soon as possible, either: (a) register the request in the Conciliation or the
Arbitration Register and on the same day notify the parties of the registration; or (b) if he finds,
on the basis of the information contained in the request, that the dispute is manifestly outside
the jurisdiction of the Centre, notify the parties of his refusal to register the request and of the
reasons therefor.’ The rationale is explained in the Report of the Executive Directors on the
Convention. ‘20. The Secretary-General is given this limited power to “screen” requests for
1
ICSID, Schedule of Fees (https://icsid.worldbank.org/services/content/schedule-fees), accessed 1 August 2021
,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.’ Yet their refusal to register the
request depends on whether it is ‘manifestly’ outside the Centre’s jurisdiction, but his decision
does not preclude the Tribunal’s decision on jurisdiction. Thus Institution Rule 7(e) requires
Secretary-General to remind the parties that the RFA’s registration is without prejudice to the
powers and functions of the conciliation commission or tribunal. Although the Secretary-
General’s decision to refuse the register it cannot be reviewed in any forum, Claimant can
always submit a new request based on the same claim.
Notice of Registration
If Secretary-General decides to register the RFA, he is bound to notify the parties on the same
day (Institution Rule 6(1)(a)). The information to appear in the notice is listed under Rule 7.
Effect of Defects in the RFA
Omissions, errors and other deficiencies in the RFA cannot allow ICSID tribunal to decline
jurisdiction, if Secretary-General proceeded to register RFA. Rule 2 of Institution Rules only
list the necessary documentation and information in the RFA to allow Secretary-General to
decide whether to register the RFA as it is merely a rule of procedure2. In Vivendi v Argentina3,
Tribunal ruled that deficiencies in the RFA cannot prevent their jurisdiction after Secretary-
General registered the RFA. However, in Cable TV v St. Kitts and Nevis4 and Impregilo v
Pakistan5, Tribunals proceeded to examine jurisdictional objections based on the RFA’s non-
compliance with Rule (2).
What are the applicable arbitration rules?
Articles 41-47 of ICSID Convention
Articles 41-47 deal with the tribunal’s power to determine its own jurisdiction, the applicable
law, the taking of evidence, default proceedings, incidental or additional claims and
counterclaims and provisional measures. However, Articles 48-51, 56-58, 60-63 also contain
relevant procedural provisions that bind the Tribunal. Other procedural provisions equally
apply both before and after Tribunal commences its work.
ICSID Arbitration Rules
ICSID Arbitration Rules are adopted by Centre’s Administrative Council according to Article
6(1)(c) of ICSID Convention. They cover the period of time from the dispatch of the notice
of registering RFA until an award is rendered and all challenges possible have been exhausted.
Following Article 44, the version of the Rules to be applied is that ‘in effect on the date on
2
Christoph Schreuer and others, ‘Request for Arbitration’ in The ICSID Convention: A Commentary
(Cambridge University Press 2009) 42
3
Vivendi v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction, 14 November 2005
4
Cable TV v St. Kitts and Nevis, Award, 13 January 1997
5
Impregilo v Pakistan, Decision on Jurisdiction, 22 April 2005
, which the parties consented to arbitration’. Article 52(4) also states that Article 44 shall apply
before an ad hoc committee whose task is to deal with a request for annulment of the original
award. Most RFAs rely on national laws or treaties for the State’s expression of consent. Its
date of consent usually corresponds to the date of RFA because it is contained in the RFA. The
Arbitration Rules also apply to procedures arising after the Tribunal’s award, including
supplementary decisions, rectification, interpretation, revision and the annulment of the award.
Parties’ Agreement to Adopt a Different Set of Arbitration Rules
Article 44 of ICSID Convention allows the parties to give effect to another set of Arbitration
Rules by mutual agreement. Also, if the date of the parties’ consent leads to applying a prior
version of ICSID Arbitration Rules, parties can agree to apply the Rules in their most recent
form according to Article 44.
Tribunal’s Decisions on Questions of Procedure
Article 44 of ICSID Convention provides that ‘If any question of procedure arises which is not
covered by this Section or the Arbitration Rules or any rules agreed by the parties, the Tribunal
shall decide the question.’ Yet Tribunal cannot ignore such applicable rules, but only to resolve
controversies arising in their absence. In Suez v Argentina6, Tribunal relied on this provision
to determine whether it had the power to accept submissions from amicus curiae 7 . ‘The
Tribunal unanimously concludes that Article 44 of the ICSID Convention grants it the power
to admit amicus curiae submissions from suitable non-parties in appropriate cases.’
How is the Tribunal constituted?
Articles 37-40 of ICSID Convention and Rules 1-6 of Arbitration Rules deal with the
constitution of the tribunal. They are mandatory and cannot be waived by mutual agreement.
Tribunal must consist of a sole arbitrator or uneven number of arbitrators (Article 37(2)(a)),
the majority of arbitrators must not be nationals of the parties, unless the arbitrators are
appointed by the parties’ agreement (Article 39), and the arbitrators appointed from outside the
Panel of Arbitrators must possess the qualities required of persons on the Panel (Article 40(2)).
If there is a defect in the tribunal’s constitution, the award can be annulled (Article 52(1)(a)).
6
Suez and AWG v Argentina, Order in Response to Transparency and Amicus Curiae Petition, 19 May 2005,
paras. 10, 16
7
One who assists the court by furnishing information or advice regarding questions of law or fact.
