The Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) is a mechanism adopted by a group of WTO Members which seeks to keep alive the “two-tiered” appeal stage in WTO dispute settlement for its participants. This lecture explores how and why the MPIA came about, the legal basis for the MPIA in the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding, and its key participants. It discusses the MPIA’s procedures and the unique reforms introduced under the MPIA that differentiate it from the WTO Appellate Body system. The MPIA is an innovation that shows that WTO Members can respond creatively when an important institutional part of the system becomes non-functional. It remains to be seen whether the MPIA remains an interim measure, as its name implies, or provides a foundation for a revived, permanent WTO Appellate Body.

The ICSID Convention and its Arbitration Rules contain a self-contained mechanism for the review of arbitral awards through an annulment procedure. This lecture describes the ICSID annulment procedure as a limited remedy designed to uphold the integrity of the arbitration process, but which is not an appeal on the merits. It discusses the applicability of annulment, its basic procedures including composition of an ad hoc Annulment Committee and the steps in an annulment proceeding, and the grounds for annulment set out in the ICSID Convention. The availability of annulment, even if success is relatively rare, contributes to the legitimacy of ICSID arbitration system by assuring States and investors that there is a check against egregious errors committed by an arbitral tribunal.