Arbitral Digest

Matter

Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft v. Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/04/14)

Case no.
ARB/04/14
Applicable rules
ICSID Institution Rules · ICSID Arbitration Rules (2003)
  1. 8 December 2008Arbitration

    8 December 2008Arbitration

    Award dated 8 December 2008

    International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

    Decision summary
    The Tribunal upheld Argentina's first preliminary objection to jurisdiction, holding that Wintershall was not entitled to refer the dispute directly to ICSID arbitration because it had not complied with Article 10(2) of the Argentina-Germany Bilateral Investment Treaty. It held that the most-favoured-nation clause did not permit avoidance of that requirement, found the dispute outside the jurisdiction of the Centre and the competence of the Tribunal, and did not decide the remaining objections that were not exclusively preliminary. The Centre's costs and expenses were allocated equally, with each party bearing its own arbitration costs.

    Supporting details

    11 authorities · 24 participants
    Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft
    Representative
    Frank H. Dienemann (For: Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft)
    Representative
    Andres O. Wertheimer (For: Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft)
    Representative
    Jose A. Martinez de Hoz (Jr.) (For: Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft)
    Representative
    Valeria Macchia (For: Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft)
    Representative
    Perez Alati, Grondona, Benites Arntsen & Martinez Hoz (Jr.) (For: Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft)
    Representative
    Jimena Vega Olmos (For: Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft)
    Representative
    Gustavo Topalian (For: Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft)
    Representative
    Peter Flory (For: Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft)
    Representative
    Gisela Makowski (For: Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft)
    Representative
    Ignacio Perez Cortes (For: Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft)
    Expert
    Christoph Schreuer (For: Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft)
    Wintershall Holding Aktiengesellschaft
    Argentine Republic
    Representative
    Osvaldo Cesar Guglielmino (For: Argentine Republic)
    Representative
    Argentine Treasury Attorney General's Office (For: Argentine Republic)
    Representative
    Brenda Anthony (For: Argentine Republic)
    Representative
    Ignacio Torterola (For: Argentine Republic)
    Expert
    Hector Mairal (For: Argentine Republic)
    Expert
    Juan Carlos Cassagne (For: Argentine Republic)
    International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
    Arbitrator
    Fali S. Nariman
    Tribunal secretary
    Claudia Frutos-Peterson

    Authorities cited

    11
    • Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (Washington Convention, 18 March 1965)
      convention
    • Argentina-Germany Bilateral Investment Treaty (Argentina-Germany BIT, effective 8 November 1993)
      treaty
    • Argentina-United States Bilateral Investment Treaty (Argentina-United States BIT, effective 20 October 1994)
      treaty
    • Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969
      convention
    • Argentine Law No. 24.098 (Law No. 24.098)
      statute
    • Emilio Agustin Maffezini v. Kingdom of Spain (ICSID Case No. ARB/97/7, Decision on Objections to Jurisdiction, 25 January 2000)
      case-law
    • Salini Costruttori S.p.A. and Italstrade S.p.A. v. Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (ICSID Case No. ARB/02/13, Decision on Jurisdiction, 29 November 2004)
      case-law
    • Plama Consortium Limited v. Republic of Bulgaria (ICSID Case No. ARB/03/24, Decision on Jurisdiction, 8 February 2005)
      case-law
    • National Grid Plc. v. Argentine Republic (UNCITRAL Case, Decision on Jurisdiction, 20 June 2006)
      case-law
    • Siemens A.G. v. Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/02/8, Decision on Jurisdiction, 3 August 2004)
      case-law
    • Enron Corporation and Ponderosa Assets, L.P. v. Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/01/3, Decision on Jurisdiction, 14 January 2004)
      case-law

Matter record

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Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft v. Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/04/14) · Matter