Suez, Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona, S.A., and Vivendi Universal S.A. (Claimants) v. The Argentine Republic (Respondent) ICSID Case No. ARB/03/19

The ICSID Tribunal granted five non-governmental organizations permission to file a joint amicus curiae submission in the case of Suez et al. v. Argentina, finding that the dispute involves significant public interest regarding water and sewage services in Buenos Aires. While the Tribunal affirmed the suitability of the petitioners based on their expertise in human rights and the environment, it denied their request for unrestricted access to arbitration documents, ruling that they possessed sufficient information from other sources to provide the necessary perspectives without the record.

• The Tribunal determined that the case is appropriate for amicus curiae submissions because it involves matters of public interest, specifically the water distribution and sewage systems of Buenos Aires and surrounding municipalities, which provide basic public services to millions of people.
• The Tribunal rejected the Claimants' argument that the withdrawal of Aguas Argentinas S.A. (AASA) from the proceedings removed the public interest element, stating that the decision may still influence how governments and foreign investors approach water industry concessions.
• The five petitioning NGOs—Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ), Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Consumidores Libres Cooperativa Ltda. de Provisión de Servicios de Acción Comunitaria, and Unión de Usuarios y Consumidores—were found suitable to act as amici due to their expertise, experience, and independence in human rights, the environment, and public services.
• The Tribunal denied the petitioners' request for unrestricted access to arbitration documents, concluding that the petitioners already had sufficient information from other sources and the public Decision on Jurisdiction to fulfill their role.
• The Tribunal clarified that the role of an amicus curiae is to provide arguments, perspectives, and expertise—which may relate to law, facts, or the application of law to facts—rather than to challenge the evidence or arguments of the parties.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2007). Suez, Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona, S.A., and Vivendi Universal S.A. (Claimants) v. The Argentine Republic (Respondent) ICSID Case No. ARB/03/19. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ICSID_Response_12Feb07.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Suez, Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona, S.A., and Vivendi Universal S.A. (Claimants) v. The Argentine Republic (Respondent) ICSID Case No. ARB/03/19. 2007. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ICSID_Response_12Feb07.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Suez, Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona, S.A., and Vivendi Universal S.A. (Claimants) v. The Argentine Republic (Respondent) ICSID Case No. ARB/03/19 |date=12 February 2007 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ICSID_Response_12Feb07.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2007suez, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Suez, Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona, S.A., and Vivendi Universal S.A. (Claimants) v. The Argentine Republic (Respondent) ICSID Case No. ARB/03/19}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2007}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ICSID_Response_12Feb07.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }