International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is an international arbitration institution established in 1966 for legal dispute resolution and conciliation between international investors and States. ICSID is part of and funded by the World Bank Group, headquartered in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is an autonomous, multilateral specialized institution to encourage international flow of investment and mitigate non-commercial risks by a treaty drafted by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development's executive directors and signed by member countries. , 153 contracting member states agreed to enforce and uphold arbitral awards in accordance with the ICSID Convention. The centre performs advisory activities and maintains several publications. History In the 1950s and 1960s, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (now the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) had made several attempts to create a framework to protect international investments, but its efforts revealed conflicting views on how to provide compensation for the expropriation of foreign direct investment. Creation In 1961, Aron Broches, then-General Counsel of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), developed the idea for a multilateral agreement on a process for resolving individual investment disputes on a case-by-case basis as opposed to imposing outcomes based on standards. Broches held conferences to consult legal experts from all parts of the world, including Europe, Africa, and Asia, to discuss and compose a preliminary agreement. The IBRD staff wrote an official draft of the agreement and consulted with legal representatives of the IBRD's board of directors to finalize the draft and have it approved.