Chapter IV
General Functions of the Secretariat

Regulation 20
List of Contracting States

The Secretary-General shall maintain a list, which he shall transmit from time to time to all Contracting States and on request to any State or person, of the Contracting States (including former Contracting States, showing the date on which their notice of denunciation was received by the depositary), indicating for each:

(a) the date on which the Convention entered into force with respect to it;

(b) any territories excluded pursuant to Article 70 of the Convention and the dates on which the notice of exclusion and any modification of such notice were received by the depositary;

(c) any designation, pursuant to Article 25(1) of the Convention, of constituent subdivisions or agencies to whose investment disputes the jurisdiction of the Centre extends;

(d) any notification, pursuant to Article 25(3) of the Convention, that no approval by the State is required for the consent by a constituent subdivision or agency to the jurisdiction of the Centre;

(e) any notification, pursuant to Article 25(4) of the Convention, of the class or classes of disputes which the State would or would not consider submitting to the jurisdiction of the Centre;

(f) the competent court or other authority for the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, designated pursuant to Article 54(2) of the Convention;

(g) any legislative or other measures taken, pursuant to Article 69 of the Convention, for making its provisions effective in the territories of the State and communicated by the State to the Centre.

(1) Whenever a Contracting State has the right to make one or more designations to the Panel of Conciliators or of Arbitrators, the Secretary-General shall invite the State to make such designations.

(2) Each designation made by a Contracting State or by the Chairman shall indicate the name, address and nationality of the designee, and include a statement of his qualifications, with particular reference to his competence in the fields of law, commerce, industry and finance.

(3) As soon as the Secretary-General is notified of a designation, he shall inform the designee thereof, indicating to him the designating authority and the terminal date of the period of designation, and requesting confirmation that the designee is willing to serve.

(4) The Secretary-General shall maintain lists, which he shall transmit from time to time to all Contracting States and on request to any State or person, of the members of the Panels of Conciliators and of Arbitrators, indicating for each member:

(a) his address;
(b) his nationality;
(c) the terminal date of the current designation;
(d) the designating authority;
(e) his qualifications.

(1) The Secretary-General shall appropriately publish information about the operation of the Centre, including the registration of all requests for conciliation or arbitration and in due course an indication of the date and method of the termination of each proceeding.

(2) If both parties to a proceeding consent to the publication of:

(a) reports of Conciliation Commissions;
(b) arbitral awards; or
(c) the minutes and other records of proceedings,

the Secretary-General shall arrange for the publication thereof, in an appropriate form with a view to furthering the development of international law in relation to investments.

 Chapter V
Functions with Respect to Individual Proceedings

(1) The Secretary-General shall maintain, in accordance with rules to be promulgated by him, separate Registers for requests for conciliation and requests for arbitration. In these he shall enter all significant data concerning the institution, conduct and disposition of each proceeding, including in particular the method of constitution and the membership of each Commission, Tribunal and Committee. On the Arbitration Register he shall also enter, with respect to each award, all significant data concerning any request for the supplementation, rectification, interpretation, revision or annulment of the award, and any stay of enforcement.

(2) The Registers shall be open for inspection by any person. The Secretary-General shall promulgate rules concerning access to the Registers, and a schedule of charges for the provision of certified and uncertified extracts therefrom.

(1) During the pendency of any proceeding the Secretary-General shall be the official channel of written communications among the parties, the Commission, Tribunal or Committee, and the Chairman of the Administrative Council, except that:

(a) the parties may communicate directly with each other unless the communication is one required by the Convention or the Institution, Conciliation or Arbitration Rules (hereinafter referred to as the "Rules");

(b) the members of any Commission, Tribunal or Committee shall communicate directly with each other.

(2) Instruments and documents shall be introduced into the proceeding by transmitting them to the Secretary-General, who shall retain the original for the files of the Centre and arrange for appropriate distribution of copies. If the instrument or document does not meet the applicable requirements, the Secretary-General:

(a) shall inform the party submitting it of the deficiency, and of any consequent action the Secretary-General is taking;

(b) may, if the deficiency is merely a formal one, accept it subject to subsequent correction;

(c) may, if the deficiency consists merely of an insufficiency in the number of copies or the lack of required translations, provide the necessary copies or translations at the cost of the party concerned.

The Secretary-General shall appoint a Secretary for each Commission, Tribunal and Committee. The Secretary may be drawn from among the Secretariat of the Centre, and shall in any case, while serving in that capacity, be considered as a member of its staff. He shall:

(a) represent the Secretary-General and may perform all functions assigned to the latter by these Regulations or the Rules with regard to individual proceedings or assigned to the latter by the Convention, and delegated by him to the Secretary;

(b) be the channel through which the parties may request particular services from the Centre; and

(c) perform other functions with respect to the proceeding at the request of the President of the Commission, Tribunal or Committee, or at the direction of the Secretary-General.

(1) The Secretary-General shall make arrangements for the holding of conciliation and arbitration proceedings at the seat of the Centre or shall, at the request of the parties and as provided in Article 63 of the Convention, make or supervise arrangements if proceedings are held elsewhere.

(2) The Secretary-General shall assist a Commission or Tribunal, at its request, in visiting any place connected with a dispute or in conducting inquiries there.

(1) The Secretary-General shall provide such other assistance as may be required in connection with all meetings of Commissions, Tribunals and Committees, in particular in making translations and interpretations from one official language of the Centre into another.

(2) The Secretary-General may also provide, by use of the staff and equipment of the Centre or of persons employed and equipment acquired on a short-time basis, other services required for the conduct of proceedings, such as the duplication and translation of documents, or interpretations from and to a language other than an official language of the Centre.

(1) The Secretary-General shall deposit in the archives of the Centre and shall make arrangements for the permanent retention of the original text:

(a) of the request and of all instruments and documents filed or prepared in connection with any proceeding, including the minutes of any hearing;

(b) of any report by a Commission or of any award or decision by a Tribunal or Committee.

(2) Subject to the Rules and to the agreement of the parties to particular proceedings, and upon payment of any charges in accordance with a schedule to be promulgated by the Secretary-General, he shall make available to the parties certified copies of reports and awards (reflecting thereon any supplementary decision, rectification, interpretation, revision or annulment duly made, and any stay of enforcement while it is in effect), as well as of other instruments, documents and minutes.

 Chapter VI
Special Provisions Relating to Proceedings

(1) All time limits, specified in the Convention or the Rules or fixed by a Commission, Tribunal, Committee or the Secretary-General, shall be computed from the date on which the limit is announced in the presence of the parties or their representatives or on which the Secretary-General dispatches the pertinent notification or instrument (which date shall be marked on it). The day of such announcement or dispatch shall be excluded from the calculation.

(2) A time limit shall be satisfied if a notification or instrument dispatched by a party is delivered at the seat of the Centre, or to the Secretary of the competent Commission, Tribunal or Committee that is meeting away from the seat of the Centre, before the close of business on the indicated date or, if that day is a Saturday, a Sunday, a public holiday observed at the place of delivery or a day on which for any reason regular mail delivery is restricted at the place of delivery, then before the close of business on the next subsequent day on which regular mail service is available.

(1) Documentation filed in support of any request, pleading, application, written observation or other instrument introduced into a proceeding shall consist of one original and of the number of additional copies specified in paragraph (2). The original shall, unless otherwise agreed by the parties or ordered by the competent Commission, Tribunal or Committee, consist of the complete document or of a copy or extract duly certified by a public official, except if the party is unable to obtain such document or certified copy or extract (in which case the reason for such inability must be stated).

(2) The number of additional copies of any document shall be equal to the number of additional copies required of the instrument to which the documentation relates, except that no such copies are required if the document has been published and is readily available. Each additional copy shall be certified by the party presenting it to be a true and complete copy of the original, except that if the document is lengthy and relevant only in part, it is sufficient if it is certified to be a true and complete extract of the relevant parts, which must be precisely specified.

(3) Each original and additional copy of a document which is not in a language approved for the proceeding in question, shall, unless otherwise ordered by the competent Commission, Tribunal or Committee, be accompanied by a certified translation into such a language. However, if the document is lengthy and relevant only in part, it is sufficient if only the relevant parts, which must be precisely specified, are translated, provided that the competent body may require a fuller or a complete translation.

(4) Whenever an extract of an original document is presented pursuant to paragraph (1) or a partial copy or translation pursuant to paragraph (2) or (3), each such extract, copy and translation shall be accompanied by a statement that the omission of the remainder of the text does not render the portion presented misleading.

 Chapter VII
Immunities and Privileges

The Secretary-General may issue certificates to members of Commissions, Tribunals or Committees, to officers and employees of the Secretariat and to the parties, agents, counsel, advocates, witnesses and experts appearing in proceedings, indicating that they are traveling in connection with a proceeding under the Convention.

(1) The Secretary-General may waive the immunity of:

(a) the Centre;
(b) members of the staff of the Centre.

(2) The Chairman of the Council may waive the immunity of:

(a) the Secretary-General or any Deputy Secretary-General;
(b) members of a Commission, Tribunal or Committee;
(c) the parties, agents, counsel, advocates, witnesses or experts appearing in a proceeding, if a recommendation for such waiver is made by the Commission, Tribunal or Committee concerned.

(3) The Administrative Council may waive the immunity of:

(a) the Chairman and members of the Council;
(b) the parties, agents, counsel, advocates, witnesses or experts appearing in a proceeding, even if no recommendation for such a waiver is made by the Commission, Tribunal or Committee concerned;
(c) the Centre or any person mentioned in paragraph (1) or (2).

 Chapter VIII
Miscellaneous

Unless another channel of communications is specified by the State concerned, all communications required by the Convention or these Regulations to be sent to Contracting States shall be addressed to the State�s representative on the Administrative Council.

(1) The official languages of the Centre shall be English, French and Spanish.

(2) The texts of these Regulations in each official language shall be equally authentic.