Source: http://arbitrationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2012/10/25/icsid-curious-facts/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 14:43:35+00:00

Document:
In what follows I have tried to gather information from publicly available sources regarding some of the questions which have troubled my mind lately. It is hoped that the results would be of interest to the readers. For me, this proved to be one of my most exciting projects so far. The idea was conceived during my work in the IMCCA – Bulgaria (International Moot Court Competition Association) which unites past and present Ph. C. Jessup Moot Court participants (as well as participants from other moot courts) who share their love for International Law in a country where it is not lectured in-depth in universities. IMCCA and America for Bulgaria Foundation provide us with the necessary stimuli to learn more and to achieve more.
The information presented is subject to the caveat that not all ICSID awards are public or may have otherwise escaped my acquisition efforts. In this and any other regard, I would appreciate further supplement or corrections.
Which arbitrators have sat the most in ICSID cases?
Who is the first woman to sit as an arbitrator in an ICSID case?
Mme Rosalyn Higgins in 1987, in the resubmitted Amco case.
It is noticeable that international arbitration remains a man-dominated profession.
Which is the Claimant which has filed the most applications?
Which is the State appearing the most times as a Respondent?
● All the initially appointed arbitrators in the cases MTD v. Chile (ICSID Case No. ARB/01/7), Vannessa Ventures v. Venezuela (ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/04/6) and Víctor Pey Casado v. Chile (ICSID Case No. ARB/98/2) resigned.
● Two of the three arbitrators in the annulment proceedings in the cases of MTD v. Chile and CMS v. Argentina were the same which made the outcome of e.g. the later-in-time decision on stay of enforcement.
● The arbitrators in the Malaysian Historical Salvors v. Malaysia (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/10) annulment proceedings were all past and present Judges from the International Court of Justice.
● The arbitrators in the cases of Pioneer v. Argentina (ICSID Case No. ARB/03/12) and Pan American v. Argentina (ICSID Case No. ARB/03/13), and Alcoa Minerals v. Jamaica (ICSID Case No. ARB/74/2), Kaiser Bauxite Company v. Jamaica (ICSID Case No. ARB/74/3) and Reynolds v. Jamaica (ICSID Case No. ARB/74/4), respectively, were all the same.
Which law firms have served the most times in ICSID cases?
Which prominent scholars have served as party-representatives or counsels in ICSID cases?
In which fields of economic activity most of the cases find their origin?
Which is the first ICSID award?
The Award rendered on August 29, 1977 in the case of Adriano Gardella S.p.A. v. Côte d’Ivoire (ICSID Case No. ARB/74/1).
What is the highest award amount so far?
The highest award amount of US$ 1,769,625,000 was awarded in the case of Occidental v. Ecuador (ICSID Case No. ARB/06/11) Award of October 5, 2012.
What is the lowest award amount so far?
It seems that the lowest award amount of US$ 460,000 (as principal) was awarded in Asian Agricultural Products Ltd. v. Sri Lanka (ICSID Case No. ARB/87/3) Award of June 27, 1990.
How much does an ICSID case cost in terms of legal costs?
The information below was intended to bring light to the question how much does an ICSID case cost in terms of legal representation. The information provided must be retained with caution since legal costs depend, among others, on the duration and the complexity of the case. Moreover, many awards are not publicly available and most Tribunals order that each party bears its own costs of legal representation without mentioning the sums.
● In CDC v. Seychelles (ICSID Case No. ARB/02/14) Award of December 17, 2003, Seychelles were ordered to pay the Claimant the sum of £ 100,000 representing legal fees.
● In Pantechniki v. Albania (ICSID Case No. ARB/07/21) Award of July 30, 2009, the cost claims of the parties were among the lowest – EUR 154,523 and EUR 269,657, respectively.
● In Telenor Mobile v. Hungary (ICSID Case No. ARB/04/15) Award of September 13, 2006, the Counsel for Hungary demanded the reimbursement of US$ 1,249,340.29.
● In Siag v. Egypt (ICSID Case No.ARB/05/15) Award of June 1, 2009, Egypt was ordered to pay the the sum of USD 6,000,000 in legal costs.
● In Spyridon Roussalis v. Romania (ICSID Case No. ARB/06/1) Award of December 7, 2011, the Claimant had to pay 60% of the Respondent’s legal fees in the amount of EUR 6,053,443.78.
● In Kardassopoulos & Fuchs v. Georgia (ICSID Case Nos. ARB/05/18 and ARB/07/15) Award of March 3, 2010, the Respondent was liable to pay the Claimants their costs for the proceedings in the total amount of US$ 7,942,297.
See also Abaclat et al. v. Argentina (ICSID Case No. ARB/07/5) at para. 682.
Which is the most invoked BIT?
How long does an ICSID case take?
Approximately 3.6 years. See Sinclair, A., ICSID Arbitration: how long does it take?, 4:5 GAR J. (2009), available here .
Which is the shortest merits award (in terms of length)?
CDC v. Seychelles (ICSID Case No. ARB/02/14) Award of December 17, 2003 – 23 pages.
Which is the longest merits award (in terms of length)?
Are there claims filed by a State against an investor?
The basis of jurisdiction was a contract. The case was eventually settled.
Which cases may be called landmark cases?
This is, among other things, evidence of the influence a scholar can have on international law.
● Maffezini v. Spain (ICSID Case No. ARB/97/7) Award of November 9, 2000, as to attribution of State responsibility.
● Salini v. Morocco (ICSID Case No. ARB/00/4) Decision on Jurisdiction of July 23, 2001, regarding the so-called Salini test for the notion of investment.
● Vivendi v. Argentina (ICSID Case No. ARB/97/3) First Annulment, Decision on Annulment dated July 3, 2002, as to the relation between treaty and contract.
● SGS v. Pakistan (ICSID Case No. ARB/01/13) Decision of the Tribunal on objections to jurisdiction of August 6, 2003 and SGS v. Philippines (ICSID Case No. ARB/02/6) Decision of the Tribunal on objections to jurisdiction of January 29, 2004, with regard to the so-called umbrella clause.
● ADC v. Hungary (ICSID Case No. ARB/03/16) Award of October 2, 2006, in relation to valuation in cases of unlawful expropriation.
● Phoenix Action v. the Czech Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/06/5) Award of April 15, 2009, as to bona fide investments.
● Abaclat et al. v. Argentina (ICSID Case No. ARB/07/5) Decision on jurisdiction and admissibility August 4, 2011, regarding admissibility of mass claims of 60,000 Claimants (the total number of whom at the time of initiation of the arbitration exceeded 180,000) mostly natural persons of Italian nationality relating to bonds issued by Argentina.
Which States have refused to comply with ICSID awards or have considerably obstructed compliance?
Argentina is well known for its interpretation of Articles 53 and 54, i.e. that the successful Claimant’s recourse to enforcement in its national courts is a pre-condition for payment of the award (See for e.g. Enron v. Argentina (ICSID Case No. ARB/01/3) Decision on the Argentine Republic’s Request for a Continued Stay of Enforcement of the Award, 7 October 2008, available here).
Which States have withdrawn from the ICSID Convention?
Which States are not parties to the ICSID Convention?
Brazil and India are not among the 158 Members to the ICSID Convention.
● After the award in the RSM v. Grenada (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/14) was rendered, RSM tried to sue Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP counsel for Grenada alleging that Freshfields conspired to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by, for e.g., Jan Paulsson and Brian King being part of the conspiracy to bribe Grenada officials and deny RSM its licensing rights. RSM claimed the excess of US$500 million in damages. The claim was dismissed. See US District Court for the District of Columbia, Civil Action No. 10-00457 available here.
The site of ICSID is informative and accessible. Still it may be improved by, for e.g., adding information as to the basis of the jurisdiction in the particular case, nationality of the Claimant, amount claimed, amount awarded, who represented the parties, which was the successful party, costs of the proceedings, etc.
This is an excellent and informative post with a wealth of interesting information.
May I concur? My earlier post was a mere quibble.
The lowest amount so far awarded was in biwater gauff v. Tanzania (icsid arb no. 05/22) on July 24, 2008 : zero dollars as the tribunal did not award any damages. Thanks for great article.
2) the first ICSID decision ever is the decision on provisional measures rendered in Holiday Inns v. Morocco (ARB/72/1) July 2, 1972, i.e. less than six month after the registration of this first ICSID case. And before the Adriano Gardella SpA award, five ICSID decisions on jurisdiction have been rendered, two in Holiday Inns v. Morocco (ARB/72/1) on 1st July 1973 and 12 May 1974 and one -identical- in the three “Jamaïcan” cases on 6 July 1975.
Very interesting article putting a perspective on the ICSID´s work.
If you included in your study ICSID/AFR cases alongside ICSID cased, Mexico should definitely be on the list of top responding countries. For more, visit the following: 1) http://graduateinstitute.ch/webdav/site/ctei/shared/CTEI/working_papers/CTEI-2012-06.pdf , and 2) http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/webdiaeia2012d10_en.pdf.
I thank sincerely the readers who took the time to read the article and the commentators who contributed to the clarification of some of the issues involved in a meaningful and stimulating discussion.
– as to the States appearing most times as Respondents – it is true that Mexico falls in this category as well as Congo, Ecuador, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Peru, Romania and Turkey. I was merely trying to keep the list shorter.
– I was hesitant in listing information as to incompliant States since it is hard to ascertain whether States have ultimately complied or not and whether a settlement has been reached. Sometimes such information remains confidential. There has been news for non-payment of awards by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Zimbabwe. (See: http://www.iareporter.com/categories/20120102) Additionally, it may be safely concluded that States have refused to comply voluntarily with ICSID awards in cases where enforcement was sought in national courts such as SOABI v. Senegal; LETCO v. Liberia; AIG Partners v. Kazakhstan; Siag v. The Arab Republic of Egypt; Sempra v. Argentina; Enron v. Argentina; CMS v. Argentina; Ares International S.r.l. and Metalgeo S.r.l. v. Georgia, etc.
I decided to rely on the most widely discussed instance in literature as well as in ICSID decisions.
It is with interest and appreciation that I expect future comments.
Is there an award in icsid of cost or damages to claimant without jurisdiction given?

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.