Readers of this blog are likely to be familiar with the existence of Bilateral Investment Treaties (“BITs”) and the wealth of arbitral awards made publicly available through the International Centre…
…or legality clause contained in certain BITs, (ii) the ‘unclean hands’ doctrine, and (iii) international public policy. Addressing the legality clause, Sinclair distinguished between illegality in the ‘making’ of an…
In his “Kiev Arbitration Days” after-dinner speech in November 2012 (“BITS, BATS and BUTS”), Gary Born presented a suggestion that can leave no one indifferent (speech published as “Essay” by…
…(Bits) entered into between its member states (intra ECT Bits). The importance of the existence of the ECT side to side with the intra ECT investment treaties is twofold. First,…
…II. The views “against” the unlawfulness of a threatened expropriation In the first place, it must be noted that the existing BITs do not, in general, sanction threats to expropriation,…
…the importance of this language in NAFTA as well as some U.S. BITs, it is unsurprising that the Court left the consent issue alone. Perhaps this decision will provide States…
…from its labor laws’ [Art. 13(2), U.S. Model BIT]. A similar language is used in a number of other BITs such as the Belgian Model BIT and the Japan-Switzerland Free…
…express language of the USA-Bolivia and UK-Bolivia BITs. The Claimants argued that the lack of express wording in the BITs was insufficient to exclude Bolivia’s consent. The Claimants therefore took…
…bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with 21 countries which adopt arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism, including China, Indonesia, Argentina, Philippines and Vietnam. In spite of the significant Australian investment into…
…on the history of the State’s BIT policy and an article-by-article discussion of the Model BIT’s principal provisions. All but one chapter ends with a “select bibliography.” It was not…
…to review by Argentinian courts.10)Carlos E. Alfaro and Pedro Lorenti, “Argentina vs. ICSID: Unconstitutionality of the BITs and ICSID Jurisdiction – the Potential New Government Defenses Against the Enforcement of…
…and the number of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) has increased dramatically (from fewer than 500 in 1990 to more than 2,500 today). However, the more widespread availability of the option…
…to be regulating Intra– and Extra-EU BITs, not to speak of the ability of the EU to do so. Consequently, in what is probably an effort to let cooler heads…
…of the language contained in the provision whereby the NAFTA Parties must accord an FET under ‘international law’ to investors. This feature contrasts with the vast majority of BITs which…
…procedural efficiency do not require a different approach. Thus, a substantive decision on the underlying question whether intra-EU BIT Arbitration clauses are still operative must wait for Slovakia’s challenge of…
…revisited the issue of protection of pre-contractual rights under the investment treaties. The award explored the issues of pre-contractual rights and the definition of investment under the BITs. It also…
…change the nature of the dispute resolution process under BITs or other investment treaties which provide for UNCITRAL arbitration, making it more open to public participation and scrutiny. But how…
…2004, para. 52) This “cut-off point”, however, has not been identified and this question needs clarification in the future. It is in this regard that some BITs include a “denial…
…BITs to which they are parties. Argentina has also threatened to do so. Australia has discarded investor-state arbitration in favour of its domestic courts. Various interest groups including the U.S….
…feature of ICSID and more specifically of the vast majority of BITs currently in effect, is that they recognize that the international investment regime must grant certain minimal conditions to…
…that this situation calls for a different treatment from the one under international law instruments like BITs. The nature of the dispute was contractual and the relationship was recognised as…
…The roots of the debate: Investor’s substantive rights and countermeasures The debate as to whether investors possess individual rights under BITs was brought to the forefront by the three “sweetener”…
…of the Australian Government’s resolution to no longer include investor-state dispute settlement provisions in BITs and FTAs, a decision which sent shockwaves throughout the international arbitration community and placed a…
…not concern itself with the question of denial of benefits clauses found in some BITs. States are, however, well advised to include in contracts with investors a requirement of prior…
