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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. The 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. As of May 2016update, 153 contracting member states agreed to enforce and uphold arbitral awards in accordance with the ICSID Convention. The center performs advisory activities and maintains several publications.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Organization 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 edit In 1961, then-General Counsel of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) Aron Broches 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.

The ICSID is governed by its Administrative Council which meets annually and elects the center's secretary-general and deputy secretary-general, approves rules and regulations, conducts the center's case proceedings, and approves the center's budget and annual report. The council consists of one representative from each of the center's contracting member states and is chaired by the President of the World Bank Group, although the president may not vote. The ICSID's normal operations are carried out by its secretariat, which comprises 40 employees and is led by the secretary-general of the ICSID. The secretariat provides support to the Administrative Council in conducting the center's proceedings. It also manages the center's Panel of Conciliators and Panel of Arbitrators. Each contracting member state may appoint four persons to each panel.: 15 In addition to serving as the center's principal, the secretary-general is responsible for legally representin

ICSID's 163 member states which have signed the center's convention include 162 United Nations member states plus Kosovo. Of these member states, 154 are "contracting member states", that is they have ratified the contract. Former members are Bolivia, Ecuador (withdrew 2009), and Venezuela, which withdrew in 2012. All ICSID contracting member states, whether or not they are parties to a given dispute, are required by the ICSID Convention to recognize and enforce ICSID arbitral awards. Non-contracting signatories edit The following member states have signed the ICSID convention (date in parentheses), but have not ratified it.   Belize (1986)   Djibouti (2019)   Dominican Republic (2000)   Ethiopia (1965)   Guinea-Bissau (1991)   Kyrgyzstan (1995)   Namibia (1998)   Russia (1992)   Thailand (1985) Non members edit Brazil, India and South Africa are countries with large economies that have never been ICSID members.

The ICSID does not conduct arbitration or conciliation proceedings itself, but offers institutional and procedural support to conciliation commissions, tribunals, and other committees which conduct such matters. The center has two sets of rules that determine how cases will be initiated and conducted, either under the ICSID's Convention, Regulations and Rules or the ICSID's Additional Facility Rules. To be processed in accordance with the ICSID Convention, a legal dispute has to exist between one of the center's contracting member states and a national of another contracting member state. It must also be of a legal nature and relate directly to an investment. A case can be processed under the ICSID Additional Facility Rules if one of the parties to the dispute is either not a contracting member state or a national of a contracting member state. However, most cases are arbitrated under the ICSID Convention. Recourse to ICSID conciliation and arbitration is entirely voluntary