E+W+S
Article 31
Resolution of DisputesE+W+S
(1) The competent authorities of the Parties to this Convention shall make all reasonable efforts to resolve through agreement between them any dispute about its interpretation or application.
(2) If any dispute cannot be resolved as in paragraph (1) it shall be submitted, at the request of the competent authority of either Party, to an arbitration tribunal which shall be constituted in the following manner—
(a)each Party shall appoint an arbitrator within three months from receipt of the demand for arbitration. The two arbitrators shall appoint a third arbitrator, who shall not be a national of either Party, within two months from the date on which the Party which was the last to appoint its arbitrator has notified the other Party of the appointment;
(b)if within the prescribed period either Party should fail to appoint an arbitrator, the other Party may request the President of the International Court of Justice or, in the event of his having the nationality of one of the Parties, the Vice-President or next senior judge of that Court not having the nationality of either Party, to make the appointment. A similar procedure shall be adopted at the request of either Party if the two arbitrators cannot agree on the appointment of the third arbitrator.
(3) The decision of the arbitration tribunal, shall be binding on both Parties. The decision shall be adopted by a majority vote. The arbitration tribunal shall determine its own rules of procedure.
(4) The costs of the tribunal shall be borne in equal parts by the Parties. The tribunal may, however, in its decisions direct that a higher proportion of costs shall be borne by one of the Parties and this award shall be binding on both Parties.