Introduction

Despite the fact that the term 'investment' appears at the heart of the ICSID designation - the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes - and in the title of the Washington Convention - the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of other States - no definition of this term is provided in the text of the treaty. Article 25(1) of the Convention simply provides that "The jurisdiction of the Centre shall extend to any legal dispute arising directly out of an investment, ...