International Investment Agreements and National Governance: The Case of Egypt

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Reem Anwar Ahmed Raslan
Keyword(s):  
International Investment ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
International Investment Agreements ◽  
Regulatory Powers ◽  
Domestic Reform ◽  
Investment Agreements

Abstract The current international investment legal regime results from the interplay between international investment norms, embodied mainly in international investment agreements (IIAs), and the legal regime of the host country. This article will outline two major impacts IIAs can exert on national governance in Egypt: first, the domestic reform impact that refers to domestically initiated reform measures taken to compliment IIAs objectives, such as establishment of Economic Courts as well as limitation of third-party challenge of Investor–State contracts; and, second, the Supra-National Impact which involves situations where IIAs constrain the regulatory powers of the host state usually by imposing legal obligations that go beyond international standards, such as alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms as well as trade-related investment measures-plus (TRIMS-Plus) and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights-plus (TRIPS-Plus) provisions. Understanding the profound effects of IIAs on national governance will beneficially inform policy makers when concluding IIAs.

The Role of International Human Rights Law in Re-Shaping Investor-State Arbitration

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-41
Author(s):  
Susan L. Karamanian
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Investment ◽  
International Investment ◽  
International Standards ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Investment Agreements ◽  
New Process ◽  
State Consent ◽  
Investment Agreements

Over the past few decades, a new process has dominated how States treat foreign investment and the consequences to States for breaching international standards. The system's key feature, the means for settling a foreign investor's dispute with a State that hosts the investment, lacks traditional elements of State judicial systems. Instead, it is a creature of State consent as reflected in international investment agreements (IIAs). In IIAs, States promise to treat foreign investment and the investors in a certain, fundamentally fair, way. Many IIAs authorize foreign investors and States to select private arbitrators to resolve claims that host States breached their promises under the IIA. The arbitrators, in turn, are empowered to issue arbitral awards.

MFN Standard as Substantive Treatment

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mira Suleimenova
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Third Party ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
International Investment Agreements ◽  
History Of ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Investment Treaties ◽  
Investment Agreements ◽  
Comprehensive Study

‘Most favoured nation’ (MFN) treatment is an integral part of virtually all modern investment regimes. MFN clauses in international investment agreements signal to investors that a given state protects them from discrimination; however, in practice, enforcing such guarantees may be challenging. This book represents a comprehensive study on how ‘most favoured nation’ treatment operates as a substantive standard of international investment law. Starting with a history of the development of the concept in international law, the author provides an overview of existing state practices in negotiating MFN clauses in bilateral and international investment treaties. Finally, the work analyses the ability of MFN treatment clauses to prevent de facto discrimination and allow for the ‘import’ of third-party substantive protections in international investor state arbitration. Dr Mira Suleimenova, LL.M. is an international investment lawyer based in Vienna, Austria.

Part IV The Impact of International Investment Law, 16 The Control of Investment Risks through International Investment Agreements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muchlinski Peter T
Keyword(s):  
International Investment ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Host State ◽  
Investment Protection ◽  
International Investment Agreements ◽  
Legal Constraints ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Investment Agreements

This chapter explores the control of host state investment risks through investor/investment protection standards under International Investment Agreements (IIAs). The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) divides IIAs into two types: bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and treaties with investment provisions (TIPs). Investor/investment protection standards in IIAs create issues of ‘regulatory space’, which, in international economic law, describes the regulatory freedom that states possess in the absence of international legal constraints. IIA protection standards affect the host state’s ‘right to regulate’ by placing certain legally binding requirements on domestic regulation so as to reduce investment risks arising from the potential disadvantages faced by foreign investors in the host state. The chapter then traces the development of international standards for the protection of foreign investors/investments and the development of ‘first-generation’ IIAs. It also describes the main instances of expansive arbitral interpretation that have led to recent calls for the reform of IIAs towards ‘new-generation’ agreements.

Is Provisional Application on the Rise in International Investment Agreements? The European Union’s Recent Treaty Practice and the Curious Case of Von Pezold

2019 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-215
Author(s):  
William Joseph Simonsick
Keyword(s):  
International Investment ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Potential Range ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
Provisional Application ◽  
Textual Interpretation ◽  
International Investment Agreements ◽  
Energy Charter Treaty ◽  
Investment Agreements ◽  
Peculiar Phenomenon

As the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (vclt) approaches its 50th birthday, the peculiar phenomenon of provisional application appears to be on the rise. Although previously confined, in the sphere of international investment agreements (iias), to the context of the Energy Charter Treaty, provisional application is increasingly seen in European Union multilateral investment treaties. Furthermore, the recent decision of Von Pezold has explored the open-ended nature of Article 25(1)(b) vclt, and the potential range of iias to which provisional application is possible. Subject to textual interpretation authorized by Articles 31 and 32 vclt, found in Kardassopoulos, Petrobart and the Yukos Oil tribunals, provisional application is a legal regime that can very easily lead towards unintended results. This article suggests the solutions of more careful syntax and grammar, and limiting clauses and changes in legal processes, to further mature provisional application jurisprudence.

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