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Cases against Turkey
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The Energy Charter Treaty (hereinafter referred to as the “ECT”)
was signed on 17 December 1994 in Lisbon and entered into force on
16 April 1998. Turkey signed the ECT on 17 December 1994, and it was
ratified on 6 February 2000. Part V of the ECT provides for a unique and
detailed method of dispute resolution. The ECT stipulates an Investor-
State arbitration for any investment disputes.
In the event that an investor chooses to submit the dispute to arbitration,
the ECT provides for three options (Art. 26/4):
(a) (i) The International Centre for the Settlement of Investment
Disputes, established pursuant to the Convention on the Settlement of
Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of other States opened
for signature at Washington, 18 March 1965 (hereinafter referred to as
the “ICSID Convention”), if the Contracting Party of the Investor and the
Contracting Party to the dispute are both parties to the ICSID Convention; or
(ii) The International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes,
under the rules governing the Additional Facility for the Administration of
Proceedings by the Secretariat of the Centre (hereinafter referred to as the
“Additional Facility Rules”), if the Contracting Party of the Investor or
the Contracting Party to the dispute, but not both, is a party to the ICSID
Convention;
(b) a sole arbitrator or ad hoc arbitration tribunal established under
the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International
Trade Law (hereinafter referred to as the “UNCITRAL”); or
(c) an arbitral proceeding under the Arbitration Institute of the
Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.
As can be seen, the ECT provides a wide scale of arbitration options to
the investor. It provides for ICSID and Stockholm Chamber of Commerce
Arbitration Rules as institutional arbitration on the one hand, and
UNCITRAL arbitration rules as
ad hoc
arbitration, on the other hand.
There are four ICSID cases initiated against Turkey by foreign
investors. Two of them are pending, and two of them have been concluded.
These are:
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Article of May 2010 – Prof. Dr. H. Ercüment Erdem