Initial Written Statements - ICSID Convention Conciliation (2022)

Thirty days after the Commission’s constitution, the parties simultaneously file initial written statements (Conciliation Rule 30(1)). These statements are not pleadings in a technical sense; each party will set out a description of the disputed issues and its views on these issues.

Any objection by a party that the dispute is not within the scope of Article 25 of the Convention or for other reasons not within the competence of the Commission is to be filed as early as possible and no later than the initial written statement. The Commission may address such an objection separately or together with the other disputed issues. If the Commission decides to address the objection separately, it may suspend the conciliation on the other issues in dispute only to the extent necessary (Conciliation Rule 33). In practice, such objections have been filed in only two ICSID conciliations.