Weiniger et al, Matthew --- "General Procedural Provisions" [2019] ELECD 3040; in Fouret, Julien; Gerbay, Remy; Alvarez, M. Gloria (eds), "The ICSID Convention, Regulations and Rules" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 1058

Book Title: The ICSID Convention, Regulations and Rules

Editor(s): Fouret, Julien; Gerbay, Rémy; Alvarez, M. Gloria

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 23

Section Title: General Procedural Provisions

Author(s): Weiniger et al, Matthew

Number of pages: 27

Extract:

23
GENERAL PROCEDURAL PROVISIONS



RULE 19 ­ PROCEDURAL ORDERS

Matthew Weiniger

The Tribunal shall make the orders required for the conduct of the proceeding.

23.01 Article 44 of the Convention provides that the tribunal shall decide any question of
procedure which is not covered by the Convention, the Arbitration Rules, or any rules
agreed by the parties. In keeping with this provision, Rule 19 grants discretion to the
tribunal to make orders required for the conduct of the proceeding.



1. AIM OF THE PROVISION

23.02 In addition to providing the formal basis upon which the tribunal can determine mat-
ters of procedure, Rule 19 reflects the inherent power of the tribunal to resolve proce-
dural questions in the event of lacunae.1 It operates as a `gap-filling' provision, enabling
the resolution of all procedural questions which are otherwise unanswered by the IC-
SID framework. It falls, by consequence, at the bottom of the hierarchy of procedural
rules. Those contained in the Convention, Administrative and Financial Regulations,
Institution Rules and Arbitration Rules, as well as those agreed between the parties (in-
cluding permitted variations of Convention provisions) will therefore take precedence
over decisions and orders made by the tribunal under Rule 19. In other words, Rule
19 does not confer on the tribunal the power to make procedural orders which would
depart from existing rules of the ICSID framework, or from rules agreed by the parties.2




1 As acknowledged by the tribunal in Abaclat and Others v. The ...