ICSID Rules and Regulations Amendment

ICSID amended its rules and regulations in 2022. This marks the fourth time the ICSID rules have been updated and the most extensive amendment to date. 

The overarching goals of the rule amendments are to modernize, simplify, and streamline the rules, while also leveraging information technology to reduce the environmental footprint of ICSID proceedings. The process draws on the lessons learned from hundreds of ICSID cases. 

ICSID submitted resolutions on the amended rules to the Administrative Council—ICSID’s governing body—for a vote of approval on January 20, 2022. ICSID Member States approved the amended rules on March 21, 2022, and the updated rules go into effect on July 1, 2022.

On November 12, 2021, ICSID released its latest working paper in English, French and Spanish. Working Paper #6: Proposals for Amendment of the ICSID Rules marks the culmination of a five-year consultative process on updating the ICSID rules for arbitration, conciliation and fact-finding. Working Paper #6 addresses the small number of topics that States and the public had raised on the previous iteration of the proposed amendments to the ICSID rules. Also published is the complete set of amended rules.

On June 15, 2021, ICSID released its fifth working paper which features the updated rules and regulations for ICSID Convention and ICSID Additional Facility arbitration and conciliation, as well as new rules for fact-finding and mediation in ‘clean’ and ‘track-change’ formats in ICSID’s three official languages, English, French and Spanish.

On February 28, 2020, ICSID released its fourth working paper with proposed amendments to its procedural rules for resolving international investment disputes. Working Paper #4 features a 'clean' version of the rules, as well as the rules in 'track changes'. The latter section also includes a brief commentary on the changes proposed in the Working Paper.

On August 16, 2019, ICSID released its third working paper with proposals for amendment of its procedural rules. Working Paper #3 also features a 'clean' version of the rules and the rules in 'track changes' (the latter with brief commentary on the changes proposed in the Working Paper).

On March 15, 2019, ICSID released a second working paper with proposed amendments of its procedural rules. It is available in an annotated version (with commentary on the proposed changes) and in a version that consolidates the draft text of the proposed rules without commentary.