The European Commission Proposal for an Investment Court System

For both the tribunal of first instance and the appeal tribunal, the TTIP proposal and the agreements with Canada and Vietnam provide that treaty parties would make appointments through a committee.32 In the case of the TTIP proposal, of the 15 judges of the tribunal of first instance, “[f]ive of the Judges shall be nationals of a Member State of the European Union, five shall be nationals of the [...] All the texts provide for a two-stage process that involves, during the first stage: • The state parties paying a retainer of a set amount each month to ensure availability of first instance tribunal members.70 • The parties to the dispute, investor/claimant and respondent, paying the costs of the proceedings.71 The “cost follows the event” rule applies to both the cost of the proceedings as well [...] The process, in all three texts, provides that “[w]ithin 90 days of the submission of a claim […] the President of the Tribunal shall appoint the Judges composing the division of the Tribunal hearing the case on a rotation basis, ensuring that the composition of the divisions is random and unpredictable, while giving equal opportunity to all Judges to serve.”87 Finally, a code of conduct is provid [...] As to the first question, ICSID Convention article 37(2)(b) provides that: “(b) Where the parties do not agree upon the number of arbitrators and the method of their appointment, the Tribunal shall consist of three arbitrators, one arbitrator appointed by each party and the third, who shall be the president of the Tribunal, appointed by agreement of the parties.”146 Before concluding that the EU-p [...] ICSID Convention article 39 provides that: “The majority of the arbitrators shall be nationals of States other than the Contracting State party to the dispute and the Contracting State whose national is a party to the dispute.” Yet, under the North American Free Trade Agreement Between the Government of Canada, the Government of Mexico and the Government of the United States, 17 December 1992, Can