History

In November, 1996 the Board of Directors appointed a roster of sixteen independent experts. From time to time, the Board will call upon experts from this roster to review or inspect the Bank’s role in particular development projects. Appointments to the roster are for five years. Roster members may not be employed by the Bank for a period of five years after completing their service on the roster.

Inspection procedures involve three stages: the application, review of the request by Bank Management, and the final decision by the Board.

Applications. Requests for inspection may only be filed by communities, organizations, and other groups living in the borrower member nation of the project. Communities, organizations, and other groups living in borrower nations adjacent to the project site may also file a request. The Bank does not require that claimants be legal entities. The claimants must offer significant evidence that their rights and interests have been or are likely to be seriously materially adversely affected by an act or omission of the Bank caused by the Bank's failure to comply with its operational policies or procedures in a proposed or ongoing project. Requests may be submitted by a local representative of an affected party or, in exceptional circumstances, by a non-local representative. For serious violations, any member of the Board of Directors may file a request for inspection.

Request Review by Management. All requests must first go to the Bank Management, which will have forty-five days to respond. Parties unsatisfied with Management response can appeal to the Board Inspection Committee (BIC). The BIC will solicit additional information from the Management and consult with at least one expert from the roster of experts. Based on this information, the BIC will decide whether to recommend an inspection to the Board of Directors. The Board then decides whether to convene a panel of three outside experts to investigate the claim.

Once the Board authorizes an investigation, the Panel will conduct a full investigation and submit recommendations to the Board. The Board will then make a final decision, based on the Panel report and Management's response, regarding a timetable for taking any necessary actions.