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CSAT

The Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT) was established and operates under a Statute agreed by Commonwealth governments in 1995.

The CSAT was established to meet the requirements of the Agreed Memorandum on the Commonwealth Secretariat (1964) and its other constitutive instruments. In fulfillment of its obligations under the Agreed Memorandum, the United Kingdom Government passed the Commonwealth Secretariat Act 1966 which, among other things, specifically provides in Section 1, subsection (3) that:

"Every written contract entered into by or on behalf of the Commonwealth Secretariat, if it does not contain an express provision for the reference of any dispute in connection with the contract to arbitration, shall be deemed to contain a provision that any such dispute shall at the request of either party to the contract be referred to arbitration ...."

In keeping with this provision, every contract entered into by or on behalf of the Commonwealth Secretariat contains a requirement for any dispute arising out of any such contract shall be submitted to the CSAT. At the same time, the 1966 Act accorded the Commonwealth Secretariat certain immunities and privileges including immunity from suit and legal process. As a corollary to the institutional immunities and privileges of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Statute of the Tribunal agreed by Commonwealth Governments specifically provides in Article IX.2 that:

“The judgment of the Tribunal shall be final and binding on the parties and shall not be subject to appeal”

Notwithstanding this, the first decade of the Tribunal's existence has not passed without some difficulties so far as establishing its exclusive jurisdiction is concerned.

A number of challenges have been made that have sought to subject judgments of the Tribunal to judicial review by the UK courts. The result of this has been the circumvention of the clear provision of the Tribunal Statute which states that judgments of the Tribunal are final and binding on the parties and not subject to appeal. This has necessitated an amendment by the United Kingdom Parliament of the 1966 Act. The International Organisations Act 2005 repeals section 1(3) of the 1966 Act which not only puts beyond doubt the finality of a judgment of the Tribunal but it also extends to members of the Tribunal immunity from suit and legal process for acts done in performing their functions.