Issues of personal jurisdiction of the Washington Center for the settlement of Investment Disputes

Abstract

Arbitration is the most preferred alternative system of resolving of disputes related to investment, given the advantages this system provides to the investor and the host state. The ICSID established by the World Bank is the world’s leading institution devoted to the settlement of international investment disputes between host state and foreign private investors.

Despite the importance of this Center and the high level of its activity in resolving investment disputes, arbitration before this Center still raises many important legal problems, especially those related to the rules of the ICSID jurisdiction.

This study will focus on the substantive and personal jurisdiction of this Center, as it aims to fill the gaps and remove the ambiguity of the provisions of the Washington Convention of 1965 regarding personal jurisdiction. To achieve the objectives of this study, we will use the descriptive, analytical, and empirical methods to analyze the most important relevant cases. The paper will be divided into two sections, the first will deal with problems related to the contracting state, while the second will address the problems related to foreign investors.