"This book, the outgrowth of a conference organized by the editors at Harvard Law School on April 19, 2008, aims to uncover the drivers behind the backlash against the current international investment regime."--Library of Congress Online Calalog.
Investment arbitration is at the cutting edge of international law and dispute resolution, and is predicted to be a major factor in the development of the global economic system in years to come. This one-volume monograph contains contributions from leading experts on a wide range of topics of both theoretical importance and practical implication that will affect the future of investment arbitration. The highly innovative chapters combine to form a constructive and valuable discussion for all in the arbitration field. The contributors, chosen to represent the full spectrum of perspectives, are leading arbitration experts from all over the world, including ICSID insiders, US government officials, UNCTAD research personnel, seasoned investment arbitrators and counsel, and renowned legal scholars. The book is divided into three themes, with the first centering on the adequacy of UNCITRAL and ICSID arbitration rules, with particular attention to recent and proposed changes. The second theme focuses on the future of bilateral investment treaties, discussing trends in the interpretation of treaty provisions and the debate concerning the efficacy of the treaties in benefiting developing countries. The third theme revolves around the public function of investment arbitration decisions, including the use of arbitration to resolve disputes between sovereigns and the arbitrators' role as a guardian of international public policy. The Future of Investment Arbitration is unique in its outstanding range of topics and the expertise of the contributors. It previews and guides future directions in the field, as well as discussing the larger policy implications of specific rules. It includes cutting-edge analysis of empirical research regarding BITS that is essential to evaluating many assumptions about investment law and arbitration. Finally, the book takes a broad perspective, examining the rules discussed within the larger structural context of investment arbitration, and drawing investment arbitration into the wider setting of international law and corporate governance.
Environmental Interests in Investment Arbitration Challenges and Directions Flavia Marisi Economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection stand at the core of sustainable development, which aims to deliver long-term growth for current and future generations. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can play a key role in sustainable development. Host states’ benefits descending from FDI inflows include tax revenues, technology transfer, specialised training of local human resources, network with satellite activities, better availability of quality products and customer-centric services. These downstream effects jointly stimulate economic growth and social inclusion. This thoroughly researched book explores the relationship between environmental protection – the third component of sustainable development – and FDI. In practice, the intersection between environmental protection and foreign investment not only has generated remarkable success stories such as cross-sectoral green investment but has also in some instances led to severe cases of environmental degradation. Certain foreign investments resulted in open-pit mines leaking harmful substances into the soil, excessive deforestation, improper treatment of water, pollution of groundwater and contamination of mud pits following oil exploitation, leaving the host state with significant environmental damage. Some other cases have witnessed the host state withdrawing or infringing its own environmental policies, which could, in principle, lead to a decrease in the value of the foreign investment as a result of natural resources deterioration. In recent years, an increasing number of investment arbitration cases have seen a clash between the states’ commitments towards their citizens, which include the duty to protect the environment, their health and well-being, and the commitment towards foreign investors to protect their investments. In this book, the author focuses on investor-state cases in which environmental protection measures have been contested and discusses substantive mechanisms in treaty drafting, rules of Customary International Law, and interpretation doctrines, which are aimed at taking environmental concerns into consideration. The topics covered include the following: statistical analysis of investor-state cases where environmental protection measures have been contested; the role of environmental principles in investor-state arbitration; treaty mechanisms addressing environmental concerns; legal tools available under Customary International Law to address environmental interests; the application of the doctrines of proportionality, police powers, and margin of appreciation; and environmental counterclaims as an instrument to claim compensation for environmental damage. The author provides a detailed framework on the normative architecture, offers an extensive analysis of the relevant case law, and proposes concrete solutions to the identified clashes, aimed at refining the balance between environmental and investment protection. With its in-depth analysis and careful documentation, this book aptly captures the inherent fragmentation of international law and undoubtedly represents an invaluable resource for both international law practitioners and scholars. The solution-oriented approach adopted in the book will be welcomed by legal counsel, law firms, investment treaty negotiators, and decision makers at the different stages of investment lawmaking and practice, as well as by international institutions and academics.
This book critically analyses how arbitration cases, institutional rules and emerging codes of conduct in the international arbitration sector have dealt with a series of key arbitrator duties to date. In addition, it offers a range of feasible and well-grounded proposals regarding investment arbitrators’ duties in the future. The following aspects are examined in depth: the duty of disclosure the duty to investigate the duty of diligence and integrity, which in turn may be divided into temporal availability, a non-delegation of responsibilities, and adhering to appropriate behaviour the duty of confidentiality, and other duties such as monitoring arbitration costs, or continuous training. Investment arbitration is currently undergoing sweeping changes. The EU proposal to create a Multilateral Investment Court incorporates a number of ground-breaking developments with regard to arbitrators. Whether this new model of permanent “members of the court” will ever become a reality, or whether the classical ex-parte arbitrator system will manage to retain its dominance in the investment arbitration milieu, this book is based on the assumption that there is a current need to re-examine and rethink the main duties of investment arbitrators. Apart from being the first monograph to analyse these duties in detail, the book will spark a crucial debate among international scholars and practitioners. It is essential to identify arbitrators’ duties and find consensus on how they should be reshaped in the near future, so that these central figures in investment arbitration can reinforce the legitimacy of a system that is currently in crisis.
Arbitration is the most common mechanism for disputes' settlement in developing countries. Following the move to free market economies, arbitration will play an increasingly fundamental role in order to protect foreign investors in the Middle East and North African Region (MENA). This book examines the pulse and dynamics of international investment arbitration and the new era of mediation in state contracts in the region. The author explores the harmonization of international arbitration and the sensitive issue of le Contrat Administratif in Middle East civil law countries. The volume also discusses the pivotal role of international organizations such as UNCTAD and ICSID in codifying fair and prompt mechanisms for dispute settlement. Using Latin American countries as a prime example of how international legislative instruments serve international investment law principles and comparing Latin American experiences where appropriate, the book demonstrates how lessons can be learned in respect of alternative dispute resolution, international commercial arbitration and investor-states arbitration. It provides suggestions and recommendations for the future and includes useful appendices detailing recent worldwide trends, regional and international instruments in the arbitration world.
This Handbook brings together many of the key scholars and leading practitioners in international arbitration, to present and examine cutting-edge knowledge in the field. Innovative in its breadth of coverage, chapter-topics range from the practicalities of how arbitration works, to big picture discussions of the actors involved and the values that underpin it. The book includes critical analysis of some of international arbitrations most controversial aspects, whilst providing a nuanced account overall that allows readers to draw their own informed conclusions. The book is divided into six parts, after an introduction discussing the formation of knowledge in the field. Part I provides an overview of the key legal notions needed to understand how international arbitration technically works, such as the relation between arbitration and law, the power of arbitral tribunals to make decisions, the appointment of arbitrators, and the role of public policy. Part II focuses on key actors in international arbitration, such as arbitrators, parties choosing arbitrators, and civil society. Part III examines the central values at stake in the field, including efficiency, legal certainty, and constitutional ideals. Part IV discusses intellectual paradigms structuring the thinking in and about international arbitration, such as the idea of autonomous transnational legal orders and conflicts of law. Part V presents the empirical evidence we currently have about the operations and effects of both commercial and investment arbitration. Finally, Part VI provides different disciplinary perspectives on international arbitration, including historical, sociological, literary, economic, and psychological accounts.
Global banking and finance is a complex and specialized field with sector-specific investment forms, subject to distinctive legal and regulatory frameworks and unique types of political risk. This comprehensive guide to international investment protection in the finance and banking sector, written by acknowledged experts in the field of investor-State arbitration, provides the first in-depth discussion of how international investment law applies to investors and investments in the sector. Featuring expert guidance on the key legal protections for cross-border banking and finance investments, with complete and up-to-date coverage of investor-State cases, the analysis crystallizes a set of field-specific legal principles for the sector. In particular, the authors address the following practical aspects of investment protection in the banking and finance sector: how sector-specific forms of investment, such as loans and derivatives, impact the dispute resolution process; types of political risk that cross-border investments in the sector are likely to encounter; distinctive adverse sovereign measures that underlie disputes in the sector, including those from sovereign debt defaults and banking sector bailouts; specific treaty provisions, such as jurisdictional carve-outs and targeted exclusions; remedies available for violations of international investment protections; how monetary damages may be assessed for injury to banking and finance sector investments; the scope of financial services chapters included in certain free trade agreements; the protections available under domestic foreign investment laws; and alternative sources of protection such as political risk insurance and investment contracts. International disputes practitioners and academics, in-house counsel in the finance and banking industries, and arbitrators addressing banking and finance disputes will welcome this book for its practical guidance. With strategies for investors as well as for sovereign States to navigate the intricacies of the investment protection system, the authors’ comprehensive analysis will help ensure appropriate international protection for banking and finance sector investments, both when establishing investments and when resolving disputes. The book lays the groundwork for the future consolidation of international investment protection as a critical tool to manage the political risk confronting global banking and finance.
In light of the controversy of the Philip Morris cases against Australia and Uruguay, this book systematically explores trade marks and brands as foreign direct investment, and in particular their substantive protection under international investment treaties. With the use of various hypothetical examples of devaluation of investments made in brands, the book explores the specifics of arbitrating investment claims arising out of state trade mark regulation. This work aims to establish useful tools in bridging the terminological and analytical gaps between experts in intellectual property law and international investment law.
Since the first edition of this invaluable book in 2012, third-party funding has become more mainstream in international arbitration practice. However, since even the existence of a third-party funding agreement in a dispute is often kept secret, it can be difficult to glean the specifics of successful funding agreements. This welcome book, now updated, expertly reveals the nuances of third-party funding in international arbitration, examines the phenomenon in key jurisdictions, and provides a reliable resource for users and potential users that may wish to tap into and make use of this distinctive funding tool. Focusing on Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, and South Africa, the authors analyze and assess the legal regime based upon legislation, judicial opinions, ethics opinions, and practitioner anecdotes describing the state of third-party funding in each jurisdiction. In addition to updating summaries of the law of the various jurisdictions, the second edition includes a new chapter addressing third-party funding in investor-state arbitration. Among the issues raised and examined are the following: · payment of adverse costs; · “Before-the-Event” (BTE) and “After-the-Event” (ATE) insurance; · attorney financing: pro bono representation, contingency representation, conditional fee arrangements; · loans; · ethical doctrines affecting the third-party funding industry; · possible future bundling, securitization, and trading of legal claims; · risk that the funder may put its own interests ahead of the client’s interests; and · whether the existence of a funding agreement must or should be disclosed to the decision maker. The second edition also includes discussion of recent institutional developments as they relate to third-party funding, including the work of the ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force on Third-Party Funding and how third-party funding is being incorporated into arbitral rules and investment treaties. Ably providing a thorough understanding of what third-party funding entails and what legal parameters exist, this book will be of compelling interest to parties aiming to take advantage of the high values, speed, reduced evidentiary costs, outcome predictability, industry expertise, and high award enforceability characteristic of the third-party funding arrangements available in international arbitration.