Fact Finding

The ICSID Fact-Finding (Additional Facility) Rules offer parties the opportunity to constitute a Committee to inquire into and report on relevant circumstances in the pre-dispute phase. Their intent is to avoid legal disputes by providing an impartial assessment of facts arising in a contractual or other business dispute between the parties.

Any State and a national of any other State may agree to use the Fact-Finding Rules.

The Fact-Finding Rules address Institution of the Proceedings (Chapter I), The Committee and its Working (Chapter II), Termination of the Proceedings (Chapter III), and Miscellaneous provisions including cost of the proceeding (Chapter IV).

Under Article 15 of the Fact-Finding (Additional Facility) Rules, the proceeding ends with a report that is limited to findings of fact. The report does not contain recommendations and is not an award. 
 
How to File a Request
 
Any State or national of a State wishing to institute an inquiry to examine and report on facts may commence a fact-finding proceeding under the Additional Facility by submitting a request to that effect to the Secretary-General.
 
The request may also be made jointly by the parties to the fact-finding proceeding.
 
The process of filing the Request is governed by Articles 1 and 2 of the Fact-Finding (Additional Facility) Rules and the Administrative and Financial Regulations (Regulations 16, 30 and 34(1)). There is no requirement for prior approval by the Secretary-General of the agreement between the parties providing for recourse to fact-finding proceedings.
 
Formal Requirements, Information and Documentation
 
The request must be:
  • written in one of the official languages of the Centre (English, French or Spanish) (see Administrative and Financial Regulation 34);
  • dated; and
  • signed by the requesting part(ies) or its duly authorized representative. If the request is signed by a representative, it must enclose proof of the authorization, e.g., a power of attorney or a letter of engagement.
The request must contain:
  • Name and contact details of all parties (including electronic mail address, street address and telephone).
  • The agreement between the parties providing for recourse to the fact-finding proceeding.
  • Information concerning the circumstances to be examined and reported on.
  • Any agreement by the parties regarding the number of commissioners, their qualifications, appointment, replacement, resignation and disqualification, the extent of the powers of the Committee, the appointment of its President, the place of its sessions, as well as the procedure to be followed in the fact-finding proceeding.

Submitting the request for fact-finding: A request and all supporting documentation should be submitted as follows: upload onto ICSID's document sharing platform ("Box"); and transmittal to the ICSID Secretariat's email.  

  1. Upload onto Box

In advance of the transmittal of a Request by email please contact the ICSID Secretariat ICSIDsecretariat@worldbank.org to request the creation of a folder on Box and access instructions.

  1. Transmittal by email

The Request and all supporting documentation (including a copy of the lodging fee wire transfer order) should be sent to ICSIDsecretariat@worldbank.org.

Please note that ICSID's server does not accept emails larger than 25 MB. For submissions exceeding this size, please indicate in your email (attaching the Request/Application) that the supporting documentation will be filed via Box only. Alternatively, any supporting documentation exceeding 25 MB may be split into several individual emails (not exceeding 25 MB each).

The request for arbitration shall designate each party to the dispute and provide their contact information, including electronic mail address, street address and telephone number.

Lodging Fee: The request must be accompanied by a non-refundable fee, which is US$25,000 under the current Schedule of Fees. The fee is payable by the party filing the request or by both parties if the request is made jointly.  The fee should be paid by wire transfer.  Wire transfer instructions may be obtained by contacting the ICSID Secretariat.  A copy of the wire transfer order should be filed with the Request.
 
For further assistance, please call an ICSID staff member or ICSID’s general number ((202) 458-1534).