Enforcement of ICSID Convention Arbitral Awards in U.S. Courts

Abstract

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is an international organization and a member of the World Bank Group that was established pursuant to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention) to administer arbitrations and conciliations between parties to the Convention (Contracting States) and foreign investors.

This review of enforcement of ICSID awards in U.S. courts demonstrates that there are a number of important questions regarding the nature of the procedures to be applied that remain unresolved. The uncertainty stems from the fact that the U.S. implementing statute does not expressly address how an ICSID award may be recognized without ordering enforcement and the procedural peculiarities that arise from the requirement that an ICSID award be treated as a final state court judgment to be enforced in a federal court. As the volume of ICSID awards has grown considerably in recent years, these issues have arisen prominently. Further decisions addressing these provisions will be necessary to settle these matters.