​October 20-25, 2014 was Law, Justice and Development (LJD) Week at the World Bank. LJD Week is an annual knowledge-sharing event co-organized by the World Bank’s Legal Vice-Presidency, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and the Legal Departments of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). LJD Week brings together World Bank Group staff, senior officials from other international financial institutions, international development practitioners, government officials, lawyers, judges, scholars and representatives from civil society. Each year, LJD Week takes an in-depth look at legal, economic and social developments in a particular country or region. In the past four years, LJD Week has focused on Brazil, China, India, and Africa. This year, the focus was on Europe.

On October 22, 2014, ICSID sponsored a session on Economic Treaties: New Directions in EU Trade Policies. The session was moderated by Anabel Gonzalez, Senior Trade and Competitiveness Director, World Bank. The panelists were: Colin Bird, Minister-Counselor (Trade and Economic Policy), Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C.; Steve Charnovitz, Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School; Jennifer Hillman, Professor of Law, Georgetown University School of Law and Partner at Cassidy Levy Kent; Damien Levie, Head of Section, Trade and Agriculture Section, Delegation of the European Union to the United States; and Dan Mullaney, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East, Office of the United States Trade Representative.

The panelists identified challenges and lessons learned in the negotiation, implementation, and operation of recent trade and investment policies and agreements. Specific issues discussed included: how to strike the proper balance between transparency and confidentiality; regulatory cooperation; and raising global standards through global trade rules that pursue the rule of law.

ICSID has issued a special focus issue of statistics regarding the European Union covering the period up to March 1, 2014.

 
To close LJD Week 2014, ICSID presented an overview of the ICSID process for World Bank Group staff on October 24, 2014. The presentation explained the practice and procedure in ICSID Convention Arbitration. Several members of the ICSID staff guided the participants through each stage of arbitration. Some highlights of the session included: commencement of the proceedings, constitution of the tribunal, written and oral proceedings, transparency, cost of arbitration, and post award remedies and enforcement.
 
Information about other sessions programmed during LJD Week 2014 can be found here.