Over the past thirty years, foreign investors who have suffered
losses as a result of the actions of the host state where their
investments were made have increasingly resorted to investment
treaty arbitrations to seek to recover their losses. As readers
will know, such proceedings are brought under a network of
bilateral investment treaties (“BITs”)
that spans the globe.
Through BITs, both State parties to the relevant treaty
frequently agree to the submission of disputes between one state
party and investors having the nationality of the other State party
to arbitration before an international arbitral tribunal. The
tribunal will apply principles of international law to determine
whether the host state has breached its obligations to protect the
investment: key principles include fair and equitable treatment of
investors, non-discrimination as between foreign investors and
domestic businesses (or those from a ‘most favoured
nation’), and a prohibition on
