PCA Hearing in Lisbon at the headquarters of the Commercial Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP)

From 11 to 14 October 2021, the PCA administered hearings in Lisbon at the headquarters of the Commercial Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP), in a case under a bilateral investment treaty involving a European private party and a Latin American sovereign State.

The hearing took place at the Commercial Arbitration Centre and CCIP’s headquarters at the Palace of Commerce, in Lisbon, Portugal, at its Main Hall D. Maria II. The Palace of Commerce is located in the centric Baixa neighbourhood and, since 1959, it houses the CCIP, and it is regularly used to host arbitration hearings and other events. The Portuguese Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Commercial Arbitration Centre of the CCIP concluded a Cooperation Agreement on 4 October 2018, providing for the promotion of arbitration, and mutual assistance in the use of hearing space and in the arrangement of local support services for PCA hearings and meetings.

The PCA-organized hearing was the first to be held under the framework of the Host Country Agreement between Portugal and the PCA, concluded on 16 June 2017. The Host Country Agreement between Portugal and the PCA secures the provision of the facilities and services required for PCA-administered proceedings and regulates the privileges and immunities that are afforded by Portugal to adjudicators and participants in PCA-administered proceedings.