This Liber Amicorum is dedicated to an exceptional lawyer who laid many foundations of international finance and development law - Ibrahim F.I. Shihata - in commemoration of his retirement from the World Bank after 15 years of service as Vice-President (later Senior Vice-President) and General Counsel, and Secretary-General of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
Ibrahim F.I. Shihata's groundbreaking contributions to the theory and practice of international law arose out of his service in major international finance and development institutions. Among the positions he held prior to his service at the World Bank and ICSID were: Legal Adviser, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development; Executive Director, International Fund for Agricultural Development; Director-General, OPEC Fund for International Development; and Chairman, International Development Law Institute. He shaped these institutions' legal architecture, and advanced these institutions' contribution to development.
This Liber Amicorum brings together essays of incumbent or former general counsels or heads of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Inter-American Investment Corporation, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Islamic Development Bank, the Nordic Investment Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the OPEC Fund, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and other international finance and development institutions. Collectively with distinguished academics, jurists, and arbitrators in international tribunals, such as the International Court of Justice, World Trade Organization's Appellate Body, and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, well-known practitioners and colleagues of Dr. Shihata at the World Bank's Legal Department, they write about current and emerging issues in international finance and development law. These include issues such as the various institutions' special development assistance profile, the settlement of international investment disputes, foreign investment law, legal and judicial reform, the environment, the rule of law, corruption, accountability of international financial institutions, etc., reflecting the broad spectrum of the part of law to the development of which Ibrahim Shihata contributed tremendously.