Introduction

An investment is the keystone of the ICSID[1] Convention: a legal dispute arising directly out of it qualifies for ICSID jurisdiction. The words " legal dispute arising directly out of an investment " in Article 25 serve two limitative purposes. Primarily, they limit the types of investment disputes susceptible to ICSID jurisdiction: they must be both " legal " disputes and they must be " arising directly out of " an investment. More broadly, Article 25 limits the types of transactions that qualify for ICSID treatment: it only applies to ...