Key takeaways

• On April 10, 2015, the Perenco Ecuador Limited v. Republic of Ecuador Tribunal rejected Ecuador’s attempt to reopen its prior Decision on Remaining Issues of Jurisdiction and on Liability, holding that neither the ICSID framework nor a tribunal’s inherent power permitted the Tribunal to entertain what was tantamount to an interlocutory appeal or annulment review of its own decision.
• The Tribunal decided Ecuador’s reconsideration motion based on threshold considerations about the ICSID arbitration process.  Its decision makes it more difficult for disappointed parties to revisit issues an ICSID tribunal has already decided, even if that decision is not yet expressed in a final award.
• The Perenco decision may also provide greater certainty about the ICSID arbitration process in light of the fact that many ICSID cases are broken into phases and are resolved through one or more substantive decisions prior to the final award.