Italba Corporation v Uruguay - ICSID Case No. ARB/16/9 - Decision on Claimant's Application for Provisional Measures and Temporary Relief - 15 February 2017
Country
Year
2017
Summary
Reproduced from www.worldbank.org/icsid with permission of ICSID. (Document, does not apply to summary and/or TDM IACL Case Report below).
Case report (free download)
Case Report by Cristina Viteri, Editor Diego Luis Alonso Massa
Summary
The ICSID Tribunal rejected the Application for Provisional Measures and Temporary Relief filed by Claimant to enjoin the criminal prosecution initiated in Uruguay against two of its witnesses, for the alleged forgery of documents submitted in the proceeding, to obtain temporary relief and to preserve the status quo until the resolution of the Application.
According to the Tribunal, there was no evidence of risk of an irreparable harm to Claimant's rights, as a result of the criminal prosecution. In the Tribunal's view, arbitration does not confer a "blanket of immunity" to the investor's principals and witnesses, and the State's sovereign right to investigate and prosecute criminal actions could be enjoined only under exceptional circumstances. The Tribunal accepted the guarantee provided by Respondent to respect Claimant's rights to prepare and present the remainder of the case in arbitration proceedings.
Main issues
Provisional measures (Article 47 of the ICSID Convention and Rule 39 of the ICSID Arbitration Rules);
Case report provided by International Arbitration Case Law (IACL)