Common use of Settlement of Disputes between a Party and an Investor of the other Party Clause in Contracts

Settlement of Disputes between a Party and an Investor of the other Party. 1. This Article shall apply to disputes between a Party and an investor of the other Party concerning an alleged breach of an obligation of the former under this Chapter which causes loss or damage to the investor or its investment. 2. The parties to the dispute shall initially seek to resolve the dispute by consultations and negotiations. 3. Where the dispute cannot be resolved as provided for under Article 14.2 within 6 months from the date of a request for consultations and negotiations, then unless the disputing investor and the disputing Party agree otherwise or either of them has already submitted the dispute to the courts or administrative tribunals of the disputing Party (excluding proceedings for interim measures of protection referred to in Article 14.5), the dispute may be submitted by either party to the dispute to: (a) the courts or administrative tribunals of the disputing Party; (b) the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) for conciliation or arbitration pursuant to Articles 28 or 36 of the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States, done at Washington on 18 March 1965; or (c) arbitration under the rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). 4. Each Party hereby consents to the submission of a dispute to conciliation or arbitration under Articles 14.3(b) and 14.3(c) in accordance with the provisions of this Article, conditional upon: (a) the submission of the dispute to such conciliation or arbitration taking place within three years of the time at which the disputing investor became aware, or should reasonably have become aware, of a breach of an obligation under this Chapter causing loss or damage to the investor or its investment; and (b) the disputing investor providing written notice, which shall be submitted at least 30 days before the claim is submitted, to the disputing Party of his or her intent to submit the dispute to such conciliation or arbitration and which: (i) nominates either Article 14.3(b) or Article 14.3(c) as the forum for dispute settlement (and, in the case of Article 14.3(b), nominates whether conciliation or arbitration is being sought); (ii) waives its right to initiate or continue any proceedings (excluding proceedings for interim measures of protection referred to in Article 14.5) before any of the other dispute settlement fora referred to in Article 14.3 in relation to the matter under dispute; and (iii) briefly summarises the alleged breach of the disputing Party under this Chapter (including the articles alleged to have been breached) and the loss or damage allegedly caused to the investor or its investment. 5. Neither Party shall prevent the disputing investor from seeking interim measures of protection, not involving the payment of damages or resolution of the substance of the matter in dispute before the courts or administrative tribunals of the disputing Party, prior to the institution of proceedings before any of the dispute settlement fora referred to in Article 14.3, for the preservation of its rights and interests. 6. Neither Party shall give diplomatic protection, or bring an international claim, in respect of a dispute which one of its investors and the other Party shall have consented to submit or have submitted to conciliation or arbitration under this Article, unless such other Party has failed to abide by and comply with the award rendered in such dispute. Diplomatic protection, for the purposes of this paragraph, shall not include informal diplomatic exchanges for the sole purpose of facilitating a settlement of the dispute.