Hassan Awdi vs Romania ICSID WORLD BANK

BUCURESTI - 12 martie 2015

Comunicat tip General in Afaceri, Juridic

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Press Release

VICTORY OF HASSAN AWDI In Relation to the Final Award in ICSID (World Bank) Arbitration No. ARB/10/13

Mr. Hassan Awdi, Enterprise Business Consultants, Inc. and Alfa El Corporation v. Romania

https://www.facebook.com/hassan.a.awdi

Press Release

In Relation to the Final Award in ICSID (World Bank) Arbitration No. ARB/10/13

Mr. Hassan Awdi, Enterprise Business Consultants, Inc. and Alfa El Corporation v. Romania

https://icsid.worldbank.org/apps/ICSIDWEB/cases/Pages/casedetail.aspx?CaseNo=ARB/10/13

https://www.scribd.com/doc/258428112/HASSAN-Awdi-vs-Romania-ICSID-WORLD-BANK-Award-ARB-10-13

 

Mr. Hassan Awdi, a United States national, and his US companies Enterprise Business Consultants Inc and Alfa El Corporation (the “Claimants”), represented by the law firms of Bredin Prat (France) and Mayer Brown (United States) have won an international arbitration against Romania in proceedings before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an arm of the World Bank, based in Washington D.C., and received an award on costs in their favor.

 

In its final award of 2 March 2015, the three-member ICSID Tribunal of Professor Piero Bernardini (Italy), Dr. Hamid Gharavi (France/Iran) and Professor Rudolf Dolzer (Germany) unanimously ruled that Romania had breached the provisions of the 1992 United States/Romania Treaty concerning the Reciprocal Encouragement and Protection of Investment in relation to the Claimants’ investments in Rodipet, a privatized press distribution company, and Casa Bucur, a privatized landmark property in Bucharest. The Arbitral Tribunal concluded that Romania must compensate the Claimants by paying a total of more than US$ 10 million (including interest since 2008) and more than US$ 1 million in legal costs following the application by the Tribunal of the “loser pays” rule. In reaching this decision, the Arbitral Tribunal also dismissed all of Romania’s objections to the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and admissibility of the Claimants’ claims, including those raised on grounds of alleged criminal actions that were investigated by DIICOT Prosecutors, including Prosecutor Georgiana Hosu, in relation to which the Arbitral Tribunal determined that there was “no convincing evidence”.

Of particular note is the fact that the Tribunal found violations of the United States/Romania Treaty despite the existence of two final decisions adverse to the Claimants by the highest courts in the land in Romania; the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court. In addition, in the course of the arbitration proceedings, the Arbitral Tribunal granted the Claimants the right to access tens of thousands of documents seized in the context of unjustified criminal investigations, although this would not normally be allowed under Romanian criminal procedure, a notable development in international law. Another first occurred in this context when the Arbitral Tribunal awarded costs to the investors at an early stage of the arbitration proceedings, as a sanction against Romania’s uncooperative behavior in granting the Claimants access to the seized documents.

Finally, justice has been rendered”, said Mr. Awdi, “after several years of proceedings, the Arbitral Tribunal looked at every detail and was able to realize that they had to adjudicate my claim and protect my rights as a United States investor”. Mr. Awdi added that “I feel vindicated by this decision which establishes that I am a decent and honorable investor that was treated unfairly by the Romanian authorities, although my rights continue to be breached by other actions by the Romanian authorities.

https://www.facebook.com/ROMANIA.JUSTICE.SYSTEM                   

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