This chapter covers the general background international law pertaining to State responsibility, in particular State responsibility incurred in relation to foreign investment, as well as the general nature and types of remedies available to investors when a State expropriates an investor’s property or interferes with its investment. The chapter first provides a short overview of the nature and sources of customary international law. It then discusses whether international law permits a sovereign State to bind itself to a contract with a national of another State. The chapter then deals with State responsibility for acts considered illegal under international law. The chapter summarizes the remedies generally available to the investor or its home State following the taking of the investor's property. Finally, it discusses host State immunity from the jurisdiction of the national courts of other States in connection with investment claims.
