1.  The Tribunal established under this Section shall decide claims submitted pursuant to Article 8.23.   

2. The CETA Joint Committee shall, upon the entry into force of this Agreement, appoint fifteen Members of the Tribunal. Five of the Members of the Tribunal shall be nationals of a Member State of the European Union, five shall be nationals of Canada and five shall be nationals of third countries. 

3. The CETA Joint Committee may decide to increase or to decrease the number of the Members of the Tribunal by multiples of three. Additional appointments shall be made on the same basis as provided for in paragraph 2.  

4. The Members of the Tribunal shall possess the qualifications required in their respective countries for appointment to judicial office, or be jurists of recognised competence. They shall have demonstrated expertise in public international law. It is desirable that they have expertise in particular, in international investment law, in international trade law and the resolution of disputes arising under international investment or international trade agreements.  

5. The Members of the Tribunal appointed pursuant to this Section shall be appointed for a five-year term, renewable once.  However, the terms of seven of the 15 persons appointed immediately after the entry into force of the Agreement, to be determined by lot, shall extend to six years. Vacancies shall be filled as they arise. A person appointed to replace a Member of the Tribunal whose term of office has not expired shall hold office for the remainder of the predecessor's term. In principle, a Member of the Tribunal serving on a division of the Tribunal when his or her term expires may continue to serve on the division until a final award is issued.  

6. The Tribunal shall hear cases in divisions consisting of three Members of the Tribunal, of whom one shall be a national of a Member State of the European Union, one a national of Canada and one a national of a third country. The division shall be chaired by the Member of the Tribunal who is a national of a third country.  

7. Within 90 days of the submission of a claim pursuant to Article 8.23, the President of the Tribunal shall appoint the Members of the Tribunal composing the division of the Tribunal hearing the case on a rotation basis, ensuring that the composition of the divisions is random and unpredictable, while giving equal opportunity to all Members of the Tribunal to serve.  

8. The President and Vice-President of the Tribunal shall be responsible for organisational issues and will be appointed for a two-year term and shall be drawn by lot from among the Members of the Tribunal who are nationals of third countries. They shall serve on the basis of a rotation drawn by lot by the Chair of the CETA Joint Committee. The Vice-President shall replace the President when the President is unavailable.  

9. Notwithstanding paragraph 6, the disputing parties may agree that a case be heard by a sole Member of the Tribunal to be appointed at random from the third country nationals. The respondent shall give sympathetic consideration to a request from the claimant to have the case heard by a sole Member of the Tribunal, in particular where the claimant is a small or medium-sized enterprise or the compensation or damages claimed are relatively low. Such a request shall be made before the constitution of the division of the Tribunal.  

10. The Tribunal may draw up its own working procedures.  

11. The Members of the Tribunal shall ensure that they are available and able to perform the functions set out under this Section.   

12. In order to ensure their availability, the Members of the Tribunal shall be paid a monthly retainer fee to be determined by the CETA Joint Committee.    

13. The fees referred to in paragraph 12 shall be paid equally by both Parties into an account managed by the ICSID Secretariat. In the event that one Party fails to pay the retainer fee the other Party may elect to pay.  Any such arrears by a Party will remain payable, with appropriate interest.   

14. Unless the CETA Joint Committee adopts a decision pursuant to paragraph 15, the amount of the fees and expenses of the Members of the Tribunal on a division constituted to hear a claim, other than the fees referred to in paragraph 12,  shall be those determined pursuant to Regulation 14(1) of the Administrative and Financial Regulations of the ICSID Convention in force on the date of the submission of the claim and allocated by the Tribunal among the disputing parties in accordance with Article 8.39.5. 

15. The CETA Joint Committee may, by decision, transform the retainer fee and other fees and expenses into a regular salary, and decide applicable modalities and conditions.   

16. The ICSID Secretariat shall act as Secretariat for the Tribunal and provide it with appropriate support.  

17. If the CETA Joint Committee has not made the appointments pursuant to paragraph 2 within 90 days from the date that a claim is submitted for dispute settlement, the Secretary General of ICSID shall, at the request of either disputing party appoint a division consisting of three Members of the Tribunal, unless the disputing parties have agreed that the case is to be heard by a sole Member of the Tribunal. The Secretary General of ICSID shall make the appointment by random selection from the existing nominations. The Secretary-General of ICSID may not appoint as chair a national of either Canada or a Member State of the European Union unless the disputing parties agree otherwise.