Originally from Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Against Sovereigns

This chapter examines the regime for the enforcement of arbitral awards rendered under the auspices of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) pursuant to its constituent treaty, the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (the ICSID Convention). As of October 22, 2007, 144 countries had signed and ratified the ICSID Convention to become Contracting States. The Convention offers them procedures for the conciliation, as well as the arbitration, of investment disputes they may have with individuals or companies that qualify as nationals of other Contracting States.

The arbitration procedures are often called truly delocalized or denationalized. This refers to the fact that they are governed exclusively by the international law provisions of the ICSID Convention and exempt from the application of the arbitration laws and the control of the courts of Contracting States. Article 53(1) of the ICSID Convention is frequently mentioned in this context. According to its first sentence, an award rendered pursuant to the Convention is binding on the parties and not subject to any appeal or to any other remedy except those which, like the remedy of annulment, are provided for in the Convention itself. Also frequently mentioned in this context is Article 54 of the Convention. It addresses the enforcement of the awards.