Originally from World Arbitration And Mediation Review (WAMR)

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HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF ICSID

CONCLUDED CASES
Linda A. Ahee, Leonardo Giacchino and Richard E. Walck*

I. INTRODUCTION

There has been considerable debate in recent years
concerning the mechanism of investor-state dispute resolution
and, particularly, the system of investment treaty arbitration
administered by the World Bank’s International Centre for
Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”). Questions have
been raised concerning the fairness of the system, including
whether it is biased in favor of multi-national corporations.

In response to the evident need for information about the
results of the ICSID caseload, several sources of information have
emerged. ICSID recently began a semi-annual review of its
caseload, highlighting the number of cases it administers, the
basis for ICSID jurisdiction, the geographic and economic sectors
represented, the nationality of the arbitrators, and broad
information on the outcomes of the cases.1 Global Financial
Analytics LLC, a firm specializing in financial analysis in litigation
and arbitration, compiled data on the ICSID caseload and
outcomes through year-end 2006. This data was presented at the
American Bar Association Section of International Law’s meeting
in Spring 2007 and, until ICSID began publishing its statistics,
supplemented the information annually thereafter.2 More