First Paragraph
On June 10, 2010, an arbitral tribunal constituted under the auspices of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ("Centre"), in accordance with the Washington Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States ("ICSID Convention"), rendered a decision on jurisdiction in the case of Mobil Corporation and others v. Venezuela ("Mobil"). The relevance of this decision lies in the fact that it was the first time that an ICSID tribunal expressly decided that, for the purposes of establishing the jurisdiction of the Centre, the Contracting States of the ICSID Convention are free to determine the nationality of juridicial persons pursuant to a nationality criterion other than the place of incorporation or seat test. Until the Mobil decision was rendered, ICSID tribunals that were required to decide on the fulfillment of the nationality requirement set forth in Article 25(1) of the ICSID convention had invariably applied the place of incorporation or seat test in order to determine the nationality of juridicial persons.
Recommended Citation
Roberto C. de Figueiredo, Mobil v. Venezuela: The Nationality Requirement Under the ICSID Convention, 3 Arb. L. Rev. 25 (2011).