Yesterday, on Monday, the work of the meeting of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts, which was held from October 3 to 6, to discuss the draft protocol of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the establishment of a permanent body and a mechanism for settling investment disputes, ended. , after the adoption in 1981 of an agreement on the promotion, protection and guarantee of investment between member states.
During the opening of the meeting, the Kingdom’s Judicial Representative Muhammad Al-Qasri emphasized “the importance of conciliation and negotiations as mechanisms prior to recourse to arbitration, since these mechanisms play a role in relieving countries and investors of the legal and financial risks that may arise as a result of arbitration proceedings” .
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation agreement, adds Al-Qasri in a speech read on his behalf, included “provisions whereby the host country grants a foreign investor the right to appeal to its national courts for complaints in the event that his investment is harmed, and also provides for the creation of a permanent body to resolve disputes arising from the implementation of these provisions.
The speech of the court representative, which was read by the head of the Department of Arbitration Disputes, Zakaria Gazzaui, is betting on a meeting that “will provide an opportunity to study the draft protocol on the establishment of this mechanism, in the direction of unifying the mechanisms for resolving disputes arising between the states parties to the agreement, as well as between them and foreign investors in the horizon of achieving legal and judicial security.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation was established by the decision of the Islamic Summit held in Rabat, Morocco on September 25, 1969, following the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on September 21, 1969.
In 1970, in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), the first Islamic conference of foreign ministers was held, at which it was decided to establish a general secretariat, which was to be located in Jeddah and headed by the secretary general of the organization.
The organization’s first charter was adopted at the third session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in 1972.
