Summary

1. The Applicant, Mr. Joshua Dean Nelson, seeks to set aside an arbitral award dated June 5, 2020 (as corrected on July 31, 2020) made by a tribunal consisting of three arbitrators constituted under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement in an international arbitration proceeding between Mr. Nelson and the Government of the United Mexican States.

2. The application is made under Article 34(2)(a)(ii) of the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, which provides the court with discretion to set aside an award on the basis that: “the party making the application… was otherwise unable to present his case.” Here, the applicant claims he was denied natural justice and procedural fairness because: (a) the award is based on a theory of the case not pleaded or argued by either of the parties; and, b) the tribunal ignored or failed to take the applicant’s expert evidence into account on issues which formed the basis on the tribunal’s award.

3. For the reasons that follow, the application is dismissed.

Award: Mr Joshua Dean Nelson and Mr Jorge Blanco v United Mexican States - ICSID Case No. UNCT/17/1 - Award of the Tribunal - English - 5 June 2020