Those that follow news in the world of ISDS (investor state
dispute resolution) will not have missed the recent announcement by
the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
("ICSID") that it hopes to approve extensive changes to
its rules and regulations by 21 March 2022.
The proposed changes to ICSID's rules are a culmination of a
consultation process with stakeholders that began in November 2016
and, since then, six working papers have been issued. Published
with the last of these in November 2021 (Working Paper #6) was
a
complete set of amended rules.
So, what is the rationale behind the changes and what can we
expect if the new rules are approved next month? ICSID has
described the overarching goals of the amendments as those that are
necessary to "modernise, simplify and
streamline" the rules based on case experience,
whilst at the same time "leveraging information
technology to reduce the environmental footprint of ICSID
proceedings".1