International Institutions and Dispute Settlement: The Case of ICSID

Abstract

Disputes between States belong to the realm of Public International Law. These disputes are often resolved by two basic techniques of conflict management: diplomatic procedures and adjudication. For this purpose Public International Law discusses matters as the law of international organisations, the law of treaties, human rights, humanitarian law, international courts, etc. However, where the State exercises a commercial function, either by itself or through a State entity and enters into a business relationship with a private party, any disputes which arise are likely to be referred either to the courts of the State concerned or to international commercial arbitration. Almost invariably, the private party to such a contract will prefer arbitration as it is a 'neutral' process.