Constitution of the ICSID Arbitral Tribunal A Contracting State or a national thereof wishing to submit a dispute to ICSID arbitration shall notify the ICSID Secretariat in writing. The request shall contain the identities of the parties, the issues in dispute, and documents evidencing the parties’ consent to arbitration. If the Secretary-General determines that the request falls within the jurisdiction of the Centre, it shall be registered. Upon registration, a copy of the request will be transmitted to the other party, and the arbitral tribunal shall be constituted as soon as possible. The tribunal may consist of a sole arbitrator or of any uneven number of arbitrators. The number of arbitrators and the individuals to serve as arbitrators shall be determined by agreement of the parties. Pursuant to Article 40(1) of the ICSID Convention, the arbitrator(s) selected by the parties may be chosen from outside the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators[1]. The essential requirement is that the arbitrator(s) possess the qualifications set forth in Article 14(1) of the ICSID Convention. Like members of the Panel, arbitrators must be persons of high moral character, recognized competence in the fields of law, commerce, industry, or finance, and capable of exercising independent judgment. If the parties cannot agree on the number of arbitrators or on the identity of the arbitrator(s), the tribunal shall consist of three arbitrators: one appointed by each party, and a president appointed jointly by the parties. The tribunal must be constituted within ninety days from the date the request is transmitted to the other party, in accordance with the procedure described above. If the tribunal is not constituted within ninety days in the prescribed manner, the Chairman of the ICSID Administrative Council, upon the request of either party and after consulting with the other party, shall appoint the outstanding arbitrator(s). In such case, no arbitrator appointed by the Chairman shall be a national of the Contracting State party to the dispute, or, if one of the parties is a national of a Contracting State, a national of that State[2].
[1] The Centre maintains two Panels—one of Conciliators and one of Arbitrators. Each Contracting State may designate to each Panel up to four persons, who may be its own nationals or nationals of other States. The Chairman of the Administrative Council may designate up to ten persons to each Panel. Persons appointed to the Panels must be of high moral character, recognized competence in law, commerce, industry, or finance, and capable of exercising independent judgment. The same individual may serve on both Panels.
[2] Ekşi, op. cit., pp. 46–47.
Attorney Yalçın Torun
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