Arbitration - Investing into North African Solar Power - page 87

2.3.2.4 Arbitrator

Art. 14 of the ICSID Convention mentions that arbitrators must be independent and
impartial. According to Art. 37(2)(a) of the ICSID Convention, the tribunal has a
sole arbitrator, provided that the parties do not agree otherwise. If the parties do not
agree, the number of arbitrators will be three (Art. 37(2)(b) of the ICSID Conven-
tion). If the tribunal is not constituted within 90 days, the chairman may appoint the
missing arbitrators (Art. 38 of the ICSID Convention). Further questions of appoint-
ment are within Rules 3 to 5 of the Arbitration Rules. An arbitration tribunal
according to the Arbitration Proceeding is not a real institution of the ICSID,
because each case involves the foundation of a new tribunal. 299

2.3.2.5 Arbitration Process

As with international commercial arbitration, consent is necessary. According to
Art. 26 of the ICSID Convention, consent to ICSID arbitration leads to the exclu-
sion of other remedies. Thus, the ICSID Convention includes an avoidance of
contradictory verdicts on the same issue. 300 According to Art. 62 of the ICSID
Convention, the seat of arbitration is at the seat of the Centre. Art. 63(a) and (b) of
the ICSID Convention offer alternatives to the choice of seat. Chapter IV of the
ICSID Convention deals with the arbitration procedure. Art. 36(1) of the ICSID
Convention stipulates that the claimant must file a request to initiate the process.
Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Art. 36 of the ICSID Convention deal with the necessary
requirements of the request and the possible consequences of non-compliance.
Art. 43 to 45 of the ICSID Convention regulate specific question of the arbitra-
tion process. Art. 44 mentions the conduct of an arbitration process, provided that
the parties do not agree otherwise. Furthermore, Chapters II and III of the Arbitra-
tion Rules stipulate the procedural and working issues of the tribunals. Rule 1(1) of
the Rules of Procedure for the Institution of Conciliation and Arbitration Pro-
ceedings (Institution Rules) highlights that the request for arbitration must be in
one of the official languages of the Centre. Other than that, the parties can agree on
a language, based on Rule 22(1) of the Arbitration Rules. If the language is not an
official language of the Centre, the tribunal must approve. Finally, Art. 56 to 58 of
the ICSID Convention deal with the possibility to challenge an arbitrator.

299 Hobe and M¨ ller ( 2009 ), 65 (67); Constituting every time newly, in: Sch

€ obener and Markert

( 2006 ), 65 (73).
300 Griebel ( 2008 ), 120.