Denial of justice in international arbitration concerns acts or omissions of a State’s judiciary for which a State may be internationally liable. Although the judiciary is a functionally independent body from a State’s executive and government, it is still a State’s organ. As a result, States may be held internationally liable for the acts and […]
Investment Arbitration
Vienna International Arbitral Center (VIAC)
The Vienna International Arbitral Center (the “VIAC”) has continued to develop and reaffirm its position as a leading arbitration institution in Europe, and namely in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, with more than 1,600 proceedings administered since its establishment in 1975 under the auspices of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber.[1] Today, the VIAC […]
Mining Arbitrations
Mining-related arbitrations have significantly increased over recent decades. Metals and minerals play an important role in foreign direct investments and the need for complex contracts have attracted considerable attention of arbitration practitioners and users. The mining sector is complex. It frequently involves multiple parties and different jurisdictions. Additionally, social development in emerging economies and environmental […]
Human Rights Law and Investment Arbitration
Human rights law is relevant in the realm of investment arbitration. This does not come as a surprise: both investors and host States may turn to public international law provisions, including human rights treaties, to reinforce their respective positions or to put forward autonomous claims. While little attention was initially given to human rights law […]
Effective Means Provision in Investment Arbitration
In addition to typical standards of investment protection such as fair and equitable treatment, national treatment or most-favored nation treatment, investment treaties sometimes contain an effective means of asserting claims and enforcing rights provision, commonly known as an “effective means provision“. This provision figures mainly in investment treaties concluded by the USA, such as the […]
International Arbitration in the Seychelles
International arbitration in the Seychelles is primarily governed by the Commercial Code of Seychelles, Chapter 38 (1 January 1977) Title IX (the “Commercial Code Act”) and supplemented by the Seychelles Code of Civil Procedure, Chapter 213 (15 April 1920, as amended) (the “Code of Civil Procedure”). The legal system of the Seychelles represents a peculiar […]
MFN Clauses in Investment Arbitration
Most-Favoured-Nation Clauses, or MFN Clauses, figure in the vast majority of investment protection treaties. They are intended to ensure “that a host country extends to the covered foreign investor and its investments, as applicable, treatment that is no less favourable than that which it accords to foreign investors of any third country.”[1] By according such […]
Arbitration Under the OIC Investment Agreement
Many investors are unaware of the existence of the Agreement for the Promotion, Protection and Guarantee of Investments among the Member States of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (the “OIC Investment Agreement”) and its provisions regarding dispute settlement. The Organization of the Islamic Conference (the “OIC”; Arabic: منظمة التعاون الإسلامي; French: Organisation de la […]
Lost Profits in Investment Arbitration
It is common in investment arbitration that investors seek to recover the profits they claim to have lost as a consequence of one or more internationally wrongful acts perpetrated by a host State of foreign investment. Historically, in assessing damages there has been a distinction between damnum emergens (actual losses) and lucrum cessans (loss of […]