Part I Investment Treaties and the Settlement of Investment Disputes: The Framework, 2 The Energy Charter Treaty

Author(s):  
Gaillard Emmanuel ◽  
McNeill Mark

The landscape of investment arbitration has shifted dramatically, with Europe — and the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) — playing important roles in that transition. As the number of investment treaty arbitrations continues to mount, the ECT remains the most frequently invoked investment agreement with over 100 publicly known arbitrations filed to date. This chapter begins with some brief remarks on the genesis of the ECT. Each subsequent section focuses on a different aspect of the Treaty’s investment-related features, including the definitions of ‘Investor’ and ‘Investment’ in Article 1 of the ECT; the denial of benefits provision in Article 17(1), the Treaty’s substantive investment protections in Part III; and the dispute resolution mechanisms in Articles 26 and 27. Where useful, the chapter compares the Treaty’s text with analogous provisions in other investment agreements and addresses relevant arbitral decisions under the ECT.

Author(s):  
Parra Antonio R

This chapter examines activities of the Centre from the start of 2011 to the end of June 2015. Almost 50 percent more cases were registered at ICSID in that period compared to the previous five years. The chapter provides some statistics on the cases of this period. As in the decade before, it shows, most the cases were brought to ICSID on the basis of the dispute settlement provisions of investment treaties, mostly bilateral investment treaties (BITs) (in over 60 percent of the cases). A large proportion of the cases (more than ten percent) came to ICSID under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). Cases submitted to the Centre pursuant to the dispute resolution clauses of investment contracts made up for a smaller share of the total. A handful (5 percent) of the cases were initiated under dispute settlement provisions of an investment law of the host State. The chapter then looks at institutional developments of ICSID during the period and considers new challenges that ICSID might meet in the future.


Author(s):  
McLachlan Campbell ◽  
Shore Laurence ◽  
Weiniger Matthew

Chapter 3 examines those aspects of dispute resolution provisions commonly found in bilateral investment treaties (BITs), with particular emphasis on four fundamental issues in the settlement of investment disputes through arbitration: (1) the clauses in investment treaties that provide for investor–State arbitration, focusing on the issue of the existence and limits of the consent to arbitrate; (2) transparency and the extent to which non-parties may be heard in the process; (3) the legal nature of the rights contained in investment treaties within the choice of law framework applicable to investment arbitration, in which both international law and host State law have a role to play; and (4) the overall approach to be taken to the interpretation of BITs under the general rule of interpretation provided in the Vienna Convention. The chapter concludes by discussing the role precedent plays in the development of investment treaty law.


Author(s):  
Chrysoula Mavromati ◽  
Sarah Spottiswood

AbstractInvestment arbitration awards often give the impression that investment treaties are designed to reflect the interests of two actors: “investors” and “states”. There are in fact a myriad of actors, or “voices”, behind each word in an investment agreement. This chapter identifies three broad categories of voices: voices inside, outside and among states. It explores the range of voices that influence investment treaty text by reference to those three categories. The chapter argues that modern investment treaties are multifaceted texts that are influenced by a range of voices from within and outside of government.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-145
Author(s):  
Kyongwha Chung

Abstract The emergency arbitrator is a person appointed to grant emergency relief pending the constitution of an arbitral tribunal. Numerous arbitral institutions started to introduce the emergency arbitrator procedure in order to provide a more effective system for the protection and preservation of parties’ rights. However, the ICSID Convention and the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, which are the most common dispute resolution rules used in investment treaties, do not recognize the emergency arbitrator procedure. By contrast, the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) allows the application of its emergency arbitrator rules in investment treaty disputes. In fact, there have been seven recent cases in which investors used the SCC Rules to seek emergency relief. This article evaluates introducing the emergency arbitrator procedure in investment treaty disputes. It discusses possible objections by States and concludes that the procedure is not inconsistent with the features of investment treaty disputes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eirik Bjorge

This article questions whether the law of the European Union (eu) can impose jurisdictional constraints on so-called intra-eu investment arbitration proceedings. Would an arbitral tribunal hearing an intra-eu case under either a bilateral investment treaty (bit) or under the Energy Charter Treaty (ect) have to declare itself incompetent to conduct the case proceedings owing to the operation of eu law? This article subjects that proposition to criticism, finding that, for a number of reasons, connected either with the drafting of the bit or the ect or the operation of general principles of international law, it does not withstand scrutiny. An arbitral tribunal seized of a treaty claim under a bit or the ect cannot rely on eu law to negate rights expressly granted under the instrument providing for its jurisdiction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 942-973
Author(s):  
Romesh Weeramantry

Abstract Cambodia has undertaken several initiatives to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), which has been growing rapidly in recent years, particularly through participating in Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) investment agreements and free trade agreements (FTAs). This article first outlines Cambodia’s arbitration law and practice, its Law on Investment, the court system, problems relating to corruption, and foreign direct investment (FDI) patterns. It then surveys trends in Cambodia’s comparatively belated signing of investment treaties, and their main contents (including recent treaties with India and Hungary, adopting very different models). The article then discusses the only investment arbitration instituted against Cambodia, which was successfully defended, followed by a comment on the future prospects for Cambodia’s investment treaty program.


Author(s):  
Kostadinova Milanka

The institution of treaty-based proceedings in a particular forum or under particular set of arbitration rules depends on the consent provisions of the underlying investment treaty. Some 767 arbitration cases have been initiated so far under the total of 3,324 bilateral investment treaties and other international investment agreements signed to date. This chapter provides an overview of the technical and fairly complex procedures for initiating proceedings and constituting tribunals in investment treaty arbitration. It examines the prevalent practices from the perspective of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute (ICSID) Convention and Rules, and other leading sets of international arbitration rules such as the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Arbitration Rules, the Rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, and the Arbitration Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, which are among the non-ICSID Rules more commonly referenced in investment treaties.


Author(s):  
Hobér Kaj ◽  
Eliasson Nils

In investment arbitration, just as in private commercial, the final award is often merely the starting shot for challenge and/or enforcement proceedings that may take as long as, or even longer than, the prior proceedings. This chapter discusses the challenge and review of investment treaty awards in municipal courts, based on 38 cases from 12 different jurisdictions: Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, and the United States. Most Canadian and US cases challenge NAFTA awards, whereas most European cases challenge bilateral investment treaty awards. The remaining cases challenge awards under the Energy Charter Treaty, one challenge of a decision on jurisdiction under the Kyrgyz Foreign Investment Law, and two challenges of awards under the CIS Convention for the Protection of Investors Rights. These jurisdictions are frequently chosen as the seat of non-ICSID arbitrations.


Author(s):  
McLachlan Campbell ◽  
Shore Laurence ◽  
Weiniger Matthew

Chapter 4 deals with a complex set of problems that have arisen in determining the relationship between parallel claims in investment arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution, including proceedings in host State courts. Five issues which arbitral tribunals have had to confront in considering the impact of other forms of dispute resolution upon their jurisdiction are explored in particular: (1) the distinction between breach of contract and breach of treaty; (2) election, waiver, and ‘fork in the road’; (3) prior resort to local remedies; (4) internationalised contract claims and ‘umbrella clauses’; and (5) parallel treaty arbitration. The chapter considers the extent to which the general doctrines of lis pendens, res judicata, election, waiver, and abuse of process are capable of application in investment treaty arbitration.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 1001-1024
Author(s):  
Romesh Weeramantry ◽  
Mahdev Mohan

Abstract Laos is no stranger to international investment arbitration. Despite its status as one of Southeast Asia’s least developed countries, it has had an Investment Law for more than two decades and is also a party to several bilateral and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)-related investment agreements. More recently, two investment treaty claims have been made against it, one of which has given rise to an award challenge that went all the way to Singapore’s highest court. This article will examine the history, evolution and current iteration of Laos’ relationship with international investment law and focus on the two investment treaty claims instituted against Laos. The article concludes with an appraisal of Laos’ need to maintain its investment treaty programme, despite the difficulties that may have arisen as a result of it being a respondent in investment treaty arbitrations.


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