Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

ICSID annulment committee upholds US$8.5bn ConocoPhillips award against Venezuela; objections to tribunal independence, powers, reasoning and valuation rejected; US$6.4m costs awarded

Published on: 24 January 2025

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

Venezuela did not persuade the annulment committee that the tribunal had been wrongly composed on the basis that arbitrators Kenneth Keith and L Yves Fortier could not be relied upon to exercise independent judgement. Nor did the committee accept Venezuela’s contention that Andreas Bucher was irregularly appointed following the 2015 resignation of Georges Abi‑Saab. It then dismissed Venezuela’s claim that the tribunal overstepped its authority and failed to set out its reasoning, remarking that the award was “easily understood”. The state’s complaint that the tribunal miscalculated the compensation due to ConocoPhillips also failed to gain traction. “[A]s we already observed, parties do not enjoy unlimited opportunities to present their cases,” the decision of 22 January 2025 records. “Venezuela besides did not deny it had ample opportunity to present its case on the valuation factors. No violation of the right to be heard occurred in the circumstances.” The committee later added that “a tribunal may refuse to admit evidence without violating the right to be heard if the fact is already established or if the evidence is without pertinence to the issue at hand”, underscoring that excluding immaterial or redundant proof does not infringe the right to be heard...

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