International Investment Law And Arbitration

A new edition connecting extracts from arbitral decisions, treaties and scholarly works with concise, up-to-date and reliable commentary.

As a wide variety of state regulations allegedly aimed at protecting public health may interfere with foreign investments, a tension exists between the public health policies of the host state and investment treaty provisions. Under most investment treaties, States have waived their sovereign immunity, and have agreed to give arbitrators a comprehensive jurisdiction over what are essentially regulatory disputes. Some scholars and practitioners have expressed concern regarding the magnitude of decision-making power allocated to investment treaty tribunals. This book contributes to the current understanding of international investment law and arbitration, addressing the fundamental question of whether public health has and/or should have any relevance in contemporary international investment law and policy.

Offers the most comprehensive, detailed and up-to-date analysis of international investment law and arbitration compared to its competitors.

Transnational investment involves a variety of actors (States, public and private legal entities, and natural persons) whose relationships are governed by rules and legal instruments belonging to different legal systems. This book provides a systematic study of the sources of rights and obligations in the field of transnational investment, and their coordination and interaction. It focuses primarily on the network of over 3,000 Bilateral Investment Treaties, international investment contracts, customary international law, the main multilateral treaties, national legislation, international case law and general principles of law. The book, firmly based on State practice, arbitral awards and national decisions, is indispensable to fully appraise the nature and content of the claims of private investors as well as to identify the law applicable in investment arbitration.

International Investment Law and Arbitration: History, Modern Practice, and Future Prospects explores international law on foreign investment: its creation, functioning and evolution.

In the last decade, international investment law has developed into one of the core areas of international law. The reason for this development is twofold. The number of cases has increased rapidly. The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes has over a hundred pending cases and there are more before ad hoc tribunals, mostly operating under the United Nations' Commission on International Trade Law Rules. In addition, investment law has addressed a number of novel issues while also coming up with some innovative solutions. This book brings together the papers delivered at the Young Scholars Conference in International Economic Law, which was held at the University of Vienna Law School in June 2007. Under the general topic of "Current Issues and Developments in International Investment Law," the speakers addressed core issues like the definition of investment, legitimate expectations of investors, and the meaning and importance of references to domestic law included in many Bilateral Investment Treaties. Also discussed were topics like the role of investment law in the context of the European Union and its relation to cultural matters, human rights, and other non-investment issues. As international investment law is becoming more and more significant, a book such as this, dedicated to the latest developments in the field, will be of utmost importance to anyone interested in this area of law.

In General Principles of Law in Investment Arbitration, the authors address selected general principles of law, assessing their functions in investment arbitration. The resulting picture is that of a lively source that escapes doctrinal straitjackets and maintains its relevance.

The term ‘attribution’ refers to the means by which it is ascertained whether the State is involved in a dispute governed by international law. The notion of attribution is primarily used to determine if the State is responsible for the wrongful conduct of persons or entities with links to the State. In the context of international investment law, the exponentially growing arbitration jurisprudence arising from international investment agreements (IIAs), especially bilateral investment treaties (BITs), reflects the extent and risk of attribution determined in investment relationships that often involve State enterprises. This book, the first in-depth study of the uses of attribution in international investment law, provides a deeply informed analysis of the treatment of attribution in applicable legal instruments and investment arbitration jurisprudence worldwide. The analysis responds to such questions as the following: - When is a conduct attributable to the State for the purposes of its responsibility under international investment law? - What legal instruments govern the question of attribution under international investment law? - In what circumstances is the State the proper party to a contract entered into by a State-owned enterprise with an investor protected by an investment treaty? - How can State policymakers minimise their international law responsibility within the existing framework of attribution in international investment law? - How can investors maximise their protection within the existing framework of attribution in international investment law? Also covered are the procedural treatment of attribution by investment tribunals, explication of such broad-brush wordings as ‘elements of governmental authority’ and ‘under the direction or control’, and the impact of the rise of State-owned enterprises as investors. Ongoing and future trends in the jurisprudence are also taken into account. A one-stop reference on the question of attribution in international investment law, the analysis extracts identifiable commonalities among instruments and rulings, turning them into useful practice tools. This book will prove invaluable for practitioners advising States or investors in investment disputes. More generally, this book will be welcomed by arbitrators, in-house counsel for companies doing transnational business and international arbitration centres, as well as by academics in international arbitration.