The multilateral Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between Disputes and Nationals of Other States created ICSID as an autonomous international organisation with close links to the World Bank Group. In the past, the World Bank sometimes exercised its good offices over investment disputes. ICSID's founding aim is to contribute to a stable and positive investment climate. The Convention is ‘designed to facilitate the settlement of disputes between States and foreign investors’ with a view to ‘stimulating a larger flow of private international capital into those countries which wish to attract it’.

ICSID arbitration generally

Although ICSID awards do not possess the force of precedent, ICSID arbitral tribunals frequently rely on past awards. Despite their lack of formal precedential value, these awards contribute to the emerging corpus of international investment law. Three arbitrators typically sit on ICSID tribunals. The investor and the host country select one each. The president is appointed jointly by the parties, or, if they fail to agree, by the chairman of ICSID (Article 37 (2) ICSID Convention).

Grounds for contesting awards are extremely limited. The ICSID Convention provides only for an annulment procedure in Article 52. ICSID tribunals' final awards may be challenged before an ad hoc committee which has the power to annul the award in certain narrow circumstances (improper constitution of the tribunal, manifest excess of power, corruption of a member of the tribunal, serious departure from a fundamental rule of procedure).