Final Award in ICC Case No. 5622

The respondent (defendant) submitted a bid to the government of Algeria for certain public works. The respondent then entered a protocol of agreement (agreement) with the claimant (plaintiff). The agreement provided that the claimant would provide legal and fiscal advice to the respondent and would coordinate its subcontractors to obtain the contract with the Algerian authorities. The agreement also provided that the respondent would pay the claimant a percentage of the price of its contract with the Algerian authorities. The agreement also contained an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration clause and a Swiss choice-of-law clause. The respondent then received a contract from the government of Algeria. The respondent paid the claimant half of the agreed fee, but the respondent refused to pay the remainder of the agreed fee, claiming the claimant’s performance was deficient. The claimant then initiated arbitration under the ICC arbitration clause to recover the remainder of the payment. The respondent sought dismissal, arguing the agreement violated Algerian law on intermediary activities and sought an award for its legal costs in the arbitration. Through testimony, the respondent argued the claimant ensured the respondent’s bid by bribing certain individuals who could grant the bid. The respondent argued this activity violated Algerian Law No. 78-02 of 11 February 1978 on the State Monopoly on Foreign Trade and therefore violated Swiss or international policy. In response, the claimant’s witnesses asserted the Algerian authorities were not bribed but conceded that the Algerian authorities in France were “taken care of.”