Translation and Interpretation in ICSID Proceedings

Translation and interpretation are an integral part of international dispute resolution. With 158 Member States to the ICSID Convention, ICSID proceedings are no exception. It is rare for any ICSID proceeding to be completely unilingual. Rather, issues of translation, interpretation and the linguistic compatibility of arbitrators, counsel, experts and other actors in ICSID proceedings arise often, sometimes with a substantive impact on the outcome of the case and are thus central to the dispute resolution services that ICSID provides. In this practice note, we provide: (Section I) an overview of the ICSID framework on procedural languages, translations and interpretations; (Section II) a summary of investment arbitration decisions in which translation and interpretation issues have had a substantive impact on the outcome of the proceedings; and (Section III) practical advice on addressing translation and interpretation needs in ICSID proceedings. Annexed to this note is a Checklist for Multilingual Proceedings.