a. Party representatives,
b. the Parties’ counsel,
c. the Tribunal members,
d. the Tribunal Secretary,
e. the Tribunal Assistant,
f. fact and expert witnesses,
g. court reporters, and
h. such other logistical, technical, or other support as may be required to assist in the presentation of evidence.
a. the only persons permitted to attend the hearing are those approved by the Parties and the Tribunal, and that no unauthorized parties shall attend in violation of that agreement; and
b. any witness or expert who is giving evidence shall not be assisted during the course of his or her evidence.
c. Identify and announce all participants at the start of each hearing day and confirm any new participant after each break; and
d. Maintain an electronic or technological attendance sheet of all participants for each day of the proceedings, including all log-in and log-off times.
a. Video
i. Generally, the Parties shall aim to comply with the following:
1. Receiving 1080p HD video – 2.5 Mbps upload/download
2. Sending 1080p HD video – 3 Mbps upload/download
3. H.323 for internal video conferencing bridge
ii. The Parties at a minimum shall ensure that their representatives, witnesses, and experts meet the recommended requirements of the Webex platform.
b. Audio
i. A headset with integrated microphone is preferred.
ii. If a speaker is used, it shall have sufficient volume to be audible for all participants.
iii. In order to minimize background noise, participants shall mute their microphone and all electronic devices when others are speaking.
c. Connection
i. A wired connection is preferred over wireless connections.
1. Stable, reliable Internet connection.
2. Minimum of 3 Mbps upload/download and 0% packet loss is preferred.
ii. Where a wired connection is unavailable, the wireless connection must be password-protected and secure. Public WiFi may not be used.
d. Equipment
i. The Parties have reviewed the ICSID Secretariat’s Guidelines for Remote Hearings (without interpretation), Section 2.2 "Equipment and set up for individual connections", which will guide their own choice of set up.
ii. The Parties shall cover the cost of supplying the equipment to their own witnesses and experts, without prejudice to the Tribunal’s ultimate decision as to the allocation of costs between the Parties.
e. Virtual breakout rooms
i. ICSID shall arrange for a private, password-protected, and secure virtual breakout room for the Tribunal members to meet privately.
ii. The Parties shall arrange their own virtual breakout rooms.
Claimants’ witnesses and experts
a. Dr. Mike Armitage and Mr. Nick Fox
b. Mr. Barry Cooper
c. Mr. Charles Jeannes
d. Prof. Dr. Pablo T. Spiller and Mr. Santiago Dellepiane A.
Respondent’s experts
e. Ms. Cathy Reichardt1
f. Mr. Bernard J. Guarnera and Mr. Mark K. Jorgensen
g. Mr. Karr McCurdy
h. Dr. Thomas Brady
i. Dr. James C. Burrows
i. there may be some spillover with individuals testifying on more than one day;
ii. experts and witnesses should in principle be available for examination on the day prior to their scheduled appearance;
iii. On 14 September 2020, the Parties confirmed the hearing locations of their witnesses and, in particular, whether the witnesses located in the western part of the U.S. and Canada (for the Claimants: Messrs. Lambert and Jeannes; for the Respondent: Messrs. Guarnera and Jorgensen, McCurdy, and Brady) will be able to testify from a location in the U.S. Eastern time zone. Should any of the witnesses not be able to travel to a location in the U.S. Eastern time zone, the Parties may reassess the order of witnesses and tentative schedule mentioned above, bearing in mind the need to be flexible and the need to minimize disruption to the hearing and basic considerations of fairness and due process. In case of disagreement, the Tribunal will decide.
i. At any time during the hearing, the Parties may request that a part of the hearing be held in private and thus excluded from the recording. To this effect, a Party shall orally inform the Tribunal before topics are raised (or immediately as they begin to be raised) which could reasonably be expected to address confidential information.
ii. If the other Party has an objection to the request, it shall immediately alert the Tribunal, which shall hear the Parties and decide on the matter. The discussion between the Parties and the Tribunal shall be held privately and excluded from the recording;
iii. Resumption of the non-confidential part of the hearing shall be orally requested by the same Party which made the confidentiality request of by the other Party, if it deems it necessary;
iv. The Tribunal shall rule on any dispute between the Parties in that respect;
v. In addition to the oral indications mentioned above, the Parties may communicate the confidential or non-confidential mode of the hearing using Webex’s chat feature;
vi. In order to minimize the number of interruptions, the Parties are invited to organize the topics addressed during their oral statements and witness/expert examinations so that those which involve confidential documents and information are grouped together, wherever possible;
vii. Exceptionally, either Party may request that a specific section of the hearing be considered confidential and therefore excluded from the recording AFTER the allegedly confidential document or information has been discussed, addressed or shown by the Party or by the witness or expert ("ex-post confidentiality requests"). The Party making the ex-post confidentiality request shall be responsible for providing to the Tribunal, the Secretary of the Tribunal and the opposing Party the exact period of time which it seeks to be removed from the recording. If the opposing Party has an objection to such request, the Tribunal shall decide after hearing both Parties.
viii. The Parties will edit the recording and the transcripts accordingly and send them to ICSID for publication. The Tribunal will decide if there are any pending disagreements.
"A hearing on jurisdiction and the merits in the above case is scheduled to take place virtually from September 28, 2020 to October 4, 2020.
Pursuant to Section I.1 of Annex C of the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Romania for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments of May 8, 2009, the hearing shall be open to the public, except for those parts involving confidential information. A video of the hearing will be streamed through a videoconference platform as soon as possible after the hearing.
Please continue to monitor our website for further announcements with the exact dates and times of the streaming."
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