19 LAWYER MONTHLY ADR AWARDS 2024 International Arbitration Lawyer of the Year USA projects undertaken by private multilateral companies on Build, Operate,Transfer (BOT) basis. The projects, such as major bridges or highways, are transferred to the Recipient Government after operation by the company on a profit basis (tolls) to receive its investment. These operations give rise to disputes that would involve the Recipient Government and are best resolved through negotiation, mediation or submitted to arbitration. The arbitration of such disputes are almost always submitted to ICSID for resolution. ICSID is the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, in which I serve as a Panel Member. On leaving the African Development Bank, I was appointed a Judge on the World Bank Administrative Tribunal based on my experience in the United Nations and at the African Development Bank. The Administrative Tribunals operate more like ADR than normal judicial adjudication through the Courts. Furthermore, in the last two years, I have chaired the Appeals Board of the International Renewal Energy Agency (IRENA), which involved two claims by staff against the agency. ICSID has been very effective in resolving State/ Investor disputes which have increased in number due to the proliferation of Bilateral Investment Treaties that favour international arbitration, mostly through ICSID. Throughout your career, how have you observed the evolution of ADR practices within international institutions? ADR is the preferred mode for the resolution of disputes in International Organizations, especially through arbitration, under the auspices of Administrative Tribunals, the leading ones being the United Nations Disputes and Appeals Tribunals and the ILO Administrative Tribunal. These Tribunals have generated and accumulated legal principles on many aspects of Administrative Law and Labour Law, which, though not binding, serve as evidence of the way the constitutive instruments of such organizations are interpreted. In my early years in the United Nations, I tried very hard to introduce a system that would enable staff to resolve their disputes amicably through negotiations or mediation, without success. It is my experience that by the time the relations between the staff and the administration mature into disputes, reconciliation or mediation becomes impossible. Thus, most of these disputes end up in arbitration before the Administrative Tribunal. ADR works more effectively to resolve private claims by individual contractors or parties, largely because the settlement of such disputes by mediation or arbitration is the only available remedy available to them given the immunity from legal process enjoyed by the Organizations. The United Nations has formalized the ADR process, short of arbitration, by offering UN contractors, especially in peacekeeping missions an opportunity to dispute nonselection for contracts through the Award Review Board and Vendor Review Committee. I serve on the Boards and the Committees of both and have assisted in resolving a number of such disputes through written legal opinions after reviewing the parties submissions. International Organizations work on limited budgets, and operate under close monitoring by the States Members of the Organizations. The Organizations thus find it difficult to settle claims or pay compensation without formal findings of fault by an established body, such as the Administrative Tribunal or in case of private contracts after review of the dispute and legal determination of fault by an independent body or anArbitrator. The Review Board and Review Committee serve a similar role. My experience is that ADR functions more effectively if the claimant can be offered a substantial payment in settlement of his/her claim. But payments in such cases become difficult for Organizations to justify unless ordered by a Tribunal or Arbitrator or after a formal legal review of the claim by an established body. Q
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