I. PROCEDURE 

1. On June 14, 2007, Railroad Development Corporation (“RDC” or “Claimant”) filed before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID” or the “Centre”) a Request for Arbitration against the Republic of Guatemala (“Respondent’, “Guatemala” or the “Government”) on its own behalf and on behalf of Compañía Desarrolladora Ferroviaria, S.A., a Guatemalan company which does business as Ferrovías Guatemala (“FVG”) and is majority-owned and controlled by RDC. The Request was brought under the Dominican Republic – Central America – United States of America (“United States”) Free Trade Agreement1(“CAFTA” or the “Treaty”). ICSID registered the Request for Arbitration on August 20, 2007. 

2. Pursuant to CAFTA Article 10.19.1, Claimant appointed the Honorable Stuart E. Eizenstat (United States of America); Respondent appointed Professor James Crawford (Australia). Pursuant to Article 10.19.3, the Acting Secretary-General of ICSID appointed Dr. Andrés Rigo Sureda (Spain), as President of the Tribunal. The Arbitral Tribunal was constituted on April 14, 2008. 

3. On May 29, 2008, Respondent requested that the Tribunal consider, on an expedited basis, an objection to the jurisdiction of the Tribunal pursuant to CAFTA Article 10.20.5. As required by Article 10.20.5, the Tribunal suspended the proceedings on the merits. The parties exchanged written submissions and a hearing on jurisdiction was held on October 10, 2008 in Washington D.C. The parties were represented by their counsel. Pursuant to CAFTA Article 10.21 the hearing was open to the public. 

4. On November 17, 2008, the Tribunal issued its Decision on Objection to Jurisdiction under CAFTA Article 10.20.5 (“First Decision on Jurisdiction”). In that decision the Tribunal held: