$6bn penalty: AG begins preparation for Reko Diq hearing

ISLAMABAD: A delegation led by Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan recently visited London to prepare in advance for Pakistan’s submissions for an international arbitration tribunal’s hearing on stay on the award of a penalty of $6 billion in the Reko Diq case.

The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) had slapped a penalty of $6 billion on Pakistan in July 12 last year over its decision to deny a mining lease for the Reko Diq project to a consortium of Chilean and Canadian companies.

The Government of Pakistan is seeking out all avenues in preparation to ensure that Pakistan is granted a stay on enforcement of the penalty during the pendency of the annulment proceedings, a statement issued by the AG Office said.

It said the Office of the Attorney-General for Pakistan filed a request for annulment on November 8, 2019 as the first step to annul the Final Award rendered by the ICSID on July 12 2019.

Alongside the request for annulment, Pakistan also requested a provisional stay on enforcement of the award, which was granted on November 18 2019. Presently, the ICSID award is stayed, which means that the applicant that instituted the case can’t pursue any ongoing enforcement proceedings or initiate new ones.

The ICSID secretariat will now notify the tribunal for the annulment phase of proceedings and subsequently, decide on the question of stay on enforcement as it retains the formal prerogative as to when to notify the tribunal.