The Dispute Prevention and Resolution Committee, “Committee”, is an uncontentious method to manage, prevent and resolve disputes within the ambit of a Contract. As it performs its duties, the Committee is formed under the Rules and assists the Parties, in order to avoid any Disputes or to resolve Disputes that may arise.
The development of the Committee's activities requires close and joint action between the Committee, the Parties and the technicians involved in the proceedings. To this end, its conduct should be guided by the principles of good faith and cooperation, with a view, as a matter of priority, to preventing the emergence of Disputes. When Disputes arise, the Committee and the Parties shall make their best efforts to resolve them in a speedy and effective manner, by always giving preference to an amicable resolution of disputes between the Parties.
The Committee formed in accordance with the Rules has autonomy to define its own procedural rules and working methodology in anything that does not conflict with the terms of the Rules, the Contract or the Parties’ Consensus. In all cases, in the exercise of its duties the Committee shall observe the principles of procedural flexibility, simplicity, orality and autonomy of the Parties. Without prejudice, the Rules allow the Committee and the Parties, if they deem it appropriate, to adopt the standard procedural rules suggested in the Optional Protocol contained in Exhibit IV of the Rules.
The Committee is not an arbitral tribunal and has no judicial function. The Committee is a contractual body, established at the will of the Parties. The Committee’s statements, Recommendations or Decisions are binding on the Parties only within the limits of the Contract and the Rules, and produce, as with all obligations, effects between the Parties. The Recommendations or Decisions of the Committee are not arbitral or judicial awards and may be submitted for consideration by the parties' dispute resolution method, whether arbitration or litigation.
In order to make the final resolution of any Dispute on the Committee's Recommendations or Decisions more effective and agile, it is recommended that the Parties agree to submit such Dispute to arbitration administered by the Ciesp/Fiesp Chamber.
The Ciesp/Fiesp Chamber will act in support of the Committees and subject to the Rules to ensure efficient administration of the works, providing secretarial support and managing the costs of the Committee's work and acting as the appointing authority of Members, ensuring legal and institutional certainty throughout the whole management of projects adopting such valuable method of dispute prevention and resolution.