Procedural Context and Key Issue

In an ICSID annulment proceeding initiated by the Kingdom of Spain, the ad hoc Committee issued a decision terminating the provisional stay of enforcement of the underlying award. The continuation of the stay had been made conditional upon Spain providing a specific, unconditional undertaking to recognize the award as final and binding and to pay the amounts due if its annulment application were to be rejected.

Committee's Analysis of Non-Compliance

The Committee determined that the letter submitted by Spain failed to meet the stipulated conditions in both substance and form. Substantively, Spain's submission did not contain the precise commitments required by the Committee's prior order. It omitted the explicit undertaking to recognize the award's finality and to unconditionally pay the pecuniary obligations within a specified timeframe. Instead, Spain provided a general statement of its intent to comply with its international obligations, which the Committee found insufficient to satisfy the order's requirements.

Procedurally, the Committee found that the letter was not executed by a "duly-authorised signatory with the full power to bind" the State, such as the Minister of Finance, and was not counter-signed by the Attorney General, both of which were explicit formal requirements of the order. The letter was signed by an Undersecretary, and no evidence was provided to establish that this official possessed the necessary authority to bind Spain to the undertaking.

Operative Decision

Based on these findings of non-compliance, and pursuant to its prior order, the Committee ordered that the stay of enforcement of the award be terminated effective from the date of notification of the decision. The Committee also reserved its right to revisit its decision and to address the allocation of costs at a subsequent stage of the proceedings.