Investment Protection Standards And The Rule Of Law

This thoughtfully edited volume brings together leading scholars in the field to explore the relationship between the substantive standards of treatment contained in international investment agreements and the rule of law, which is developing into one of the key principles which both supporters and critics use to evaluate the investment treaty regime. Investment Protection Standards and the Rule of Law explores two perspectives. Firstly, it examines to what extent the substantive standards of treatment can be understood as expressions of the rule of law. Secondly, it addresses the rule-of-law problems, or rule-of-law lacunae, that exist in, or are created by, the application of these standards. The subject matter is advanced by combining doctrinal analysis of the core substantive treatment standards, as well as normative assessment of those standards from the perspective of the rule of law. This book also offers a critical discussion of the potential the rule of law has as a guidepost for structuring international investment relations, as well as its blind spots.

"In recent years, the concept of fair and equitable treatment has assumed prominence in investment relations between States. While the earliest proposals that made reference to this standard of treatment for investment are contained in various multilateral efforts in the period immediately following World War II, the bulk of the State practice incorporating the standard is to be found in bilateral investment treaties which have become a central feature in international investment relations. In essence, the fair and equitable standard provides a yardstick by which relations between foreign direct investors and Governments of capital-importing countries may be assessed. It also acts as a signal from capital-importing countries, for it indicates, at the very least, a State's willingness to accommodate foreign capital on terms that take into account the interests of the investor in fairness and equity."--Provided by publisher.

This book provides a conceptual and legal analysis of the core of investment protection guarantees that emerge from international treaties signed since 1959 for the promotion and protection of foreign investment. It focuses on both the origin and evolution of investment treaty standards. Beginning with origins, the work considers the broader context at the time when the first modern investment treaty was concluded. It goes on to examine the many decisions of ad hoc arbitral tribunals that have since been called upon to apply these treaties in order to resolve the several hundred investor-State disputes. It also looks at some of the recent investment treaties that have attempted to clarify and/or reform the content and scope of investment protection guarantees. Federico Ortino posits that the key investment protection provisions in investment treaties, and thus much of the controversy associated with such treaties, revolve around three concepts: legal stability, investment's value, and reasonableness. He argues that, from the very beginning, the protections afforded to foreign investments by modern investment treaties have been exceptionally broad, and as such restrictive of host States' ability to regulate. And whilst a growing number of investment treaty tribunals, as well as new investment treaties, have to some extent reined in such broad protections, the evolution of key investment protection standards has been marred by inconsistency and uncertainty.

This book develops a conceptual framework that captures not only the tensions between constitutional values that are common to liberal democracies – human rights, democracy, and the rule of law – and the investment treaty regime, but also the potential for co-existence and complementarity.

Bringing together conceptual theories of international investment law with the practical application of the law in treaty arbitration, this book investigates the key controversies in the field. It provides a detailed examination of how a different theoretical approach would have led to a different outcome in a number of important arbitral awards.

This volume celebrates the first fifty years of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) by presenting the landmark cases that have been decided under its auspices. These cases have addressed every aspect of investment disputes: jurisdictional thresholds; the substantive obligations found in investment treaties, contracts, and legislation; questions of general international law; and a number of novel procedural issues. Each chapter, written by an expert on the chapter’s particular focus, looks at an international investment law topic through the lens of one or more of these leading cases, analyzing what the case held, how it has been applied, and its overall significance to the development of international investment law. These topics include: - applicable law; - res judicata in investor-State arbitration; - notion of investment; - investor nationality; - consent to arbitration; - substantive standards of treatment; - consequences of corruption in investor-State arbitration; - State defenses - counter-claims; - assessment of damages and cost considerations; - ICSID Arbitration Rule 41(5) objections; - mass claims, consolidation and parallel proceedings; - provisional measures; - arbitrator challenges; - transparency and amicus curiae; and - annulment. Because the law of international investment continues to grow in importance in an ever globalizing world, this book is more than a fitting way to mark the past fifty years and to welcome the next fifty years of development. It will prove both educational for practitioners new to the field and informative for seasoned investment lawyers. Moreover, the book itself is a landmark that will be of great value to professionals, scholars and students interested in international investment law.

Dieses Werk beschäftigt sich mit den sogenannten "absoluten" Schutzstandards im internationalen Investitionsschutzrecht: dem Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) und dem Full Protection and Security (FPS) Standard. Es bearbeitet die Frage, ob außergewöhnliche Umstände im Gaststaat einen Einfluss auf die Auslegung dieser Standards haben. Zu diesem Zweck untersucht die Autorin die normativen Grundlagen beider Standards, einschließlich des jeweiligen Wortlauts, Systematik und Zweck, bevor die bestehende Schiedsgerichtspraxis analysiert wird. .

This open access book considers the potential setup for a future Multilateral Investment Court (MIC). The option of an MIC was first discussed by the EU Commission in 2016 and has since been made an official element of the EU Common Commercial Policy. In 2017, UNCITRAL also decided to discuss the possibility of an MIC, and on 20 March 2018, the Council of the EU gave the EU Commission the mandate to negotiate the creation of an MIC. The “feasibility study” presented here is intended to contribute to a broader discussion on the options for a new international court specialized in investment protection. The cornerstones of such a new permanent court are a strict orientation on the rule of law, reduced costs of investment protection, transparency considerations, aspects of consistency in case law, and the effective enforceability of MIC decisions.