Source: http://docplayer.fr/1258488-Jurisdiction-and-applicable-law-in-investment-treaty-arbitration-christoph-schreuer.html
Timestamp: 2018-04-26 21:33:31+00:00
Document Index: 207610974

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 35', 'art 21', 'arts 8', 'arts 11', 'arts 11', 'arts 8', 'art 24']

Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer - PDF
Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer
Download "Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer"
1 Volume No 1 McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution Revue de règlement des différends de McGill Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer Looking Back at Canada Periodicals: Autopsy of a Missed Opportunity to Address the Problem of Conflicting Provisions in the World Trade Organization and Preferential Trade Agreements Dispute Settlement Systems Elsa A Paparemborde L influence de la culture sur la pratique de l arbitrage international : une perspective personnelle Andrew de Lotbinière McDougall La contribution des Nations Unies à l arbitrage international L Yves Fortier et Annie Lespérance The Limits of Arbitration Justice Quentin Loh L arbitre et le droit Alain Prujiner
2 Volume No 1 McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution Revue de règlement des différends de McGill Editorial Board - Comité de rédaction Editor-in-Chief Claudette van Zyl Rédactrice en chef Executive Editor Petra Vrtkova Rédactrice exécutive Executive Editor Giacomo Marchisio Rédacteur exécutif Executive Editor Colin Bourrier Rédacteur exécutif Coordinating Editor Hugo Margoc coordinateur de la rédaction Podcast Editor Samantha Levy Rédactrice des Podcasts Managing Editor Gajan Sathananthan Rédacteur administratif Kadriye Merve Bilgic Senior Editors - Rédacteurs Etienne Ravilet Guzman Graham MacVannel Warwick Walton Kelsey Franks Jacob Heyka Associate Editors - Rédacteurs associés Andrew Krolides Dina Prokić Arthur Rousseau Sunny Yang Faculty Advisor Fabien Gélinas Professor-conseil Faculty Advisor Andrea Bjorklund Professor-conseil Hon Marie Deschamps Advisory Board - Membres du comité consultatif Dr John Forester Michaela Keet Andrew Newcombe Hon Louise Otis Dr Todd Weiler
3 It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you the McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution (MJDR), an online peer-reviewed journal run by students at the Faculty of Law at McGill University. Our periodical strives to promote developments in the scholarship of arbitration, mediation, conciliation, and negotiation. The establishment of the MJDR was inspired by the major developments made in recent decades concerning the way disputes are resolved. International arbitration has become the preeminent mechanism of resolving international commercial disputes. Mediation has simultaneously certain classes of cases to be referred to mandatory mediation prior to adjudication. Given such tremendous expansion since the 1980s, one might even say that alternative dispute resolution is hardly alternative anymore. Our mission is to foster discussion among academics and practitioners interested in staying providing a medium that facilitates rapid publication without compromising standards of writing or academic integrity. The articles we publish may take on strictly legal approaches, or may be inspired by the humanities and social sciences. The MJDR to extend a special thank you to Professors Fabien Gélinas, Andrea Bjorklund as well as Frédéric Bachand and the members of the Faculty of Law at McGill University for their continued support since the journal s inception. Collectively, the Faculty s international outlook, bilingualism, and strong ties to the arbitration and mediation communities have provided an auspicious environment to advance a journal of this kind. Thank you also to the friends as well as the founding and prior members of the Journal: the McGill Law Students Association, Sandra Aigbinode, Stephanie Bachelet, Aideen Brennan, Kuzivakwashe Charamba, Ke-Jia Chong, Guillaume D Amico, Jonathan Elston, Evita Ferreira, Maria Flores, Marco Garofalo, Aly Haji, Rana Hussein, Kristofer Lachance, Daniel Litwin, Jennifer McWhaw, Arad Mojtahedi, Jayne Olm-Shipman, Pradeepan Sarma, Lisa So, Alexander Spraggs, I hope you will enjoy this issue. Claudette van Zyl Editor-in-Chief, McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution
4 C est avec grand plaisir que je vous présente le premier numéro de la Revue de règlement des différends de McGill (RRDM), un périodique géré par des étudiants de la Faculté de droit de objectif de promouvoir l étude dans les domaines de l arbitrage, de la médiation, de la conciliation et de la négociation. La création de la RRDM est le résultat de l importante évolution au cours des dernières décennies dans la manière dont les différends sont résolus. L arbitrage est désormais le mécanisme gagné en popularité et de plus en plus de juridictions mettent en place un processus de médiation ce formidable développement ayant lieu depuis les années 1980, les méthodes alternatives de règlement des différends ne sont plus aussi «alternatives» qu elles l ont déjà été. Nous voulons encourager un dialogue entre les chercheurs et les praticiens qui désirent les articles publiés dans la RRDM ne sauraient rester dans un strict cadre juridique et peuvent Le comité de rédaction de la RRDM numéro pour remercier tout particulièrement les professeurs Fabien Gélinas, Andrea Bjorklund et Frédéric Bachand ainsi que la Faculté de droit de l Université McGill pour le soutien incessant qu ils ont apporté à notre revue. L orientation internationale, son bilinguisme et ses liens étroits avec la communauté de l arbitrage et de la médiation a fait de la Faculté un environnement propice pour la création de notre revue. membres et membres fondateurs : l Association des étudiants en droit de McGill, Sandra Aigbinode, Stéphanie Bachelet, Aideen Brennan, Kuzivakwashe Charamba, Ke-Jia Chong, Guillaume Bonne lecture! Claudette van Zyl Revue de règlement des différends de McGill
5 Volume No 1 McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution Revue de règlement des différends de McGill Table of Contents - Table des Matières Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer 1 Looking Back at Canada Periodicals: Autopsy of a Missed Opportunity to Address the Problem of Conflicting Provisions in the World Trade Organization and Preferential Trade Agreements Dispute Settlement Systems Elsa A Paparemborde 26 L influence de la culture sur la pratique de l arbitrage international : une perspective personnelle Andrew de Lotbinière McDougall 47 La contribution des Nations Unies à l arbitrage international L Yves Fortier et Annie Lespérance 56 The Limits of Arbitration Justice Quentin Loh 66 L arbitre et le droit Alain Prujiner 83
6 McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution Revue de règlement des différends de McGill Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer This article first discusses the law governing a tribunal s jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is governed primarily by the instrument(s) bestowing jurisdiction. In the case of treaty arbitration, this will be the treaty offering consent to arbitration. On certain points, like the legality of the investment and the investor s nationality, that treaty will refer to domestic law. A second part deals with the varying scope of jurisdiction exercised by investment treaty tribunals. It ranges from a wide jurisdiction over all disputes arising from investments to jurisdiction only over certain narrowly defined disputes. There is no clear correlation between these jurisdictional clauses and provisions on applicable law in the relevant treaties. A third part looks at situations in which the tribunal s jurisdiction and the applicable law derive from different sources. This is the case, in particular, where the tribunal applies substantive standards that existed before the entry into force of the treaty providing for jurisdiction. Cet article traite du droit applicable à la compétence des arbitres. La compétence étant déterminée principalement par le biais d un instrument attributif, dans le cas de l arbitrage d investissement, cela aura lieu à travers le traité offrant la possibilité de consentir à l arbitrage. Sur certains points, tels que la légalité de l investissement et la nationalité de l investisseur, le traité se réfèrera au droit national. La deuxième partie de l article aborde la compétence variable des tribunaux en matière d investissement. Elle peut s appliquer à tous les différends concernant l investissement ou seulement à certaines questions bien définies. Toutefois, il n y a pas de corrélation évidente entre ces clauses attributives de compétence et les dispositions sur le droit applicable aux traités concernés. En dernier, la troisième partie se penche sur les cas où la compétence du tribunal et le droit applicable ont des sources distinctes. Cela peut se produire, notamment, lorsque le tribunal applique des standards préexistants à l entrée en vigueur du traité attribuant la compétence.
7 (2014) Vol 1:1 Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer 2 I. Introduction In investment treaty arbitration jurisdiction is generally based on an offer of consent to arbitration made by the states parties to a treaty. Most often the treaty is a bilateral investment treaty ( BIT ). That offer may be accepted by nationals of another state party to the treaty, often simply by starting arbitration proceedings. At the same time, the claimants typically rely on the substantive standards guaranteed by the treaty. Therefore, at first sight, the two aspects, jurisdiction and applicable substantive law, appear intimately linked. A closer look reveals that jurisdiction and applicable law, while clearly correlated in a number of ways, are by no means always coextensive. In particular, it would be mistaken to assume that because a tribunal derives its jurisdiction from a particular treaty the law to be applied is necessarily made up of that treaty s substantive standards of protection. In other words, a tribunal s basis of jurisdiction does not determine the law to be applied by it. The scope of a tribunal s jurisdiction varies considerably from one treaty to another. Sometimes jurisdiction goes beyond the substantive standards provided by the respective treaty. Sometimes jurisdiction coincides with them. Sometimes jurisdiction does not even extend to all of the treaty s standards of protection. In some situations the substantive law to be applied by a tribunal is to be found entirely outside the treaty that constitutes the basis for its jurisdiction. Just as the basis of a tribunal s jurisdiction does not determine the law it has to apply, the law applicable in a case does not determine the tribunal s jurisdiction. The law governing jurisdictional issues is independent of the law applicable to the merits of a case. This article first discusses the law governing issues of a tribunal s jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is governed primarily by the instrument(s) bestowing jurisdiction. In the case of treaty arbitration, this will be the treaty offering consent to arbitration. On certain points, like the legality of the investment and the investor s nationality, that treaty will refer to domestic law. A second part deals with the varying scope of jurisdiction exercised by investment treaty tribunals. It ranges from a wide jurisdiction over all disputes arising from investments to jurisdiction only over certain narrowly defined disputes. There is no clear correlation between these jurisdictional clauses and provisions on applicable law in the relevant treaties. A third part looks at situations in which the tribunal s jurisdiction and the applicable law derive from different sources. This is the case, in particular, where the tribunal applies substantive standards that existed before the entry into force of the treaty providing for jurisdiction. II. The Law Applicable to Jurisdiction A. The Law Governing Jurisdiction In most investment treaty arbitrations respondents raise jurisdictional objections that must be dealt with before the tribunal can proceed to the merits. Not infrequently, this leads to the question of the law applicable to issues of jurisdiction. At times respondents have argued that this would be the same as the law applicable to the merits.
8 (2014) Vol 1:1 McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution 3 Revue de règlement des différends de McGill Tribunals have held consistently that questions of jurisdiction are not subject to the law applicable to the merits of the case. Questions of jurisdiction are governed by their own system which is defined by the instruments containing the parties consent to jurisdiction. 1 In CMS v Argentina, the Respondent sought to rely on its national company law to contest the standing of shareholders in a company. The Tribunal rejected this attempt and said: [T]he applicable jurisdictional provisions are only those of the [ICSID] Convention and the BIT, not those which might arise from national legislation. 2 More generally, with respect to the law governing jurisdiction the CMS Tribunal said: Article 42 [of the ICSID Convention] is mainly designed for the resolution of disputes on the merits and, as such, it is in principle independent from 1 Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka AS v Slovakia, Decision on Jurisdiction (24 May 1999) at para 35, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), 14 ICSID Rev 251; Enron Corp v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction (14 January 2004) at para 38, ICSID, ORIL IIC 93; Noble Energy Inc v Ecuador, Decision on Jurisdiction (5 March 2008) at paras 56-57, ICSID, ORIL IIC 320; CMS Gas Transmission Company v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction (17 July 2003) at paras 42, 88, ICSID, ILM 788 [CMS]; Siemens AG v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction (3 August 2004) at paras 29-31, ICSID, 44 ILM 138 [Siemens]; Azurix Corp v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction (8 December 2003) at paras 48-50, ICSID, 43 ILM 262; Camuzzi International SA v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction (11 May 2005) at paras 15-17, 25-27, 57, ICSID, ORIL IIC 283; AES Corp v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction (26 April 2005) at paras 34-39, ICSID, 12 ICSID Rep 308; Berschader v Russian Federation, Award (21 April 2006) at paras 93-97, Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, ORIL IIC 314 [Berschader]; Jan de Nul NV v Egypt, Decision on Jurisdiction (16 June 2006) at paras 65-68, ICSID, ORIL IIC 144; Saipem SPA v Bangladesh, Decision on Jurisdiction (21 March 2007) at paras 68-70, 78-82, ICSID, 22 ICSID Rev 100 [Saipem SPA]; Inmaris Perestroika Sailing Maritime Services GMBH v Ukraine, Decision on Jurisdiction (8 March 2010) at para 54, ICSID, ORIL IIC 431 [Inmaris Perestroika]; Burlington Resources Inc v Ecuador, Decision on Jurisdiction (2 June 2010) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 436; Railroad Development Corp v Guatemala, Second Decision on Jurisdiction (18 May 2010) at para 111, ICSID, ORIL IIC 432; Mobil Corporation Venezuela Holdings BV v Venezuela, Decision on Jurisdiction (10 June 2010) at paras 71-85, ICSID, ORIL IIC 435; Alpha Projektholding GMBH v Ukraine, Award (8 November 2010) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 464; Cemex Caracas Investments BV v Venezuela (30 December 2010) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 470; Duke Energy International Peru Investments No 1 v Peru, Decision on Annulment (1 March 2011) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 483; Alps Finance and Trade AG v Slovakia, Award (5 March 2011) at paras , Ad Hoc Tribunal-United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (Ad Hoc UNCITRAL), ORIL IIC 489; M Meerapfel Söhne AG v Central African Republic, Award (12 May 2011) at paras , ICSID, Case No ARB/07/10; Abaclat v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction and Admissibility (4 August 2011) at para 430, ICSID, ORIL IIC 504 [Abaclat]; Quiborax SA v Bolivia, Decision on Jurisdiction (27 September 2012) at paras 47-52, ICSID, ORIL IIC 563 [Quiborax]; Electrabel SA v Hungary, Decision on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law and Liability (30 November 2012) at para 4.17, ICSID, ORIL IIC 567; Teinver SA v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction (21 December 2012) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 570 [Teinver]; Ambiente Ufficio SPA v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction and Admissibility (8 February 2013) at paras 134, 153, , 257, , ICSID, ORIL IIC 576; Burimi SRL v Albania, Award (29 May 2013) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 593; Philip Morris Brands Sàrl v Uruguay, Decision on Jurisdiction (2 July 2013) at para 30, ICSID, ORIL IIC 597; KT Asia Investment Group BV v Kazakhstan, Award (17 October 2013) at para 85, ICSID, ORIL IIC 615; Churchill Mining PLC v Indonesia, Decision on Jurisdiction (24 February 2014) at para 86, ICSID, ORIL IIC 634; Planet Mining Pty Ltd v Indonesia, Decision on Jurisdiction (24 February 2014) at para 86, ICSID, ORIL IIC CMS, supra note 1 at para 42.
9 (2014) Vol 1:1 Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer 4 the decision on jurisdiction, governed solely by Article 25 of the [ICSID] Convention and those other provisions of the consent instrument which might be applicable, in the instant case the Treaty provisions. 3 Article 25(2)(b) of the ICSID Convention employs the concept of foreign control as a jurisdictional element. The Tribunal in Compagnie d Exploitation du Chemin de Fer Transgabonais v Gabon found that the concept of control under Article 25(2)(b) was not to be interpreted just by looking at the law of the host State: La notion de contrôle ne se réfère pas au droit interne de l Etat d accueil. Il faut lui conserver son autonomie, car elle sert à la détermination de la compétence du CIRDI. Le droit interne peut seulement servir d indication. 4 The Tribunal in Daimler v Argentina aptly summarized the issue of the law applicable to jurisdiction in the following terms: For purposes of the Tribunal s jurisdiction [ ] the proper law to be applied is the German-Argentine BIT itself, in concert with the ICSID Convention, as interpreted in the light of general principles of international law. 5 Therefore, it is clear that, independent of any law chosen by the parties with respect to the merits of their claims, jurisdictional issues, including the existence of an investment, the presence of an eligible investor and the parties consent to arbitration, must be determined by reference to the legal instruments establishing jurisdiction and by general international law. B. Domestic Law and Jurisdiction Some questions that are relevant to a tribunal s jurisdiction are governed by domestic law. In investment treaty arbitration this is usually the consequence of a reference to domestic law in the treaty providing for jurisdiction. For instance, many treaties require that in order to qualify as an investment, the operation must be in accordance with the host State s law. BITs frequently include the formula in accordance with host State law or a similar phrase in their definitions of the term investment. 6 The consequence of such a definition is that an investment that is not in compliance with host State law is not covered by the definition of investment and will not benefit from protection under the treaty. Clauses in these treaties providing for arbitration between the host State and the investor typically refer to investments as defined in the treaty. Therefore, failure to comply with host State law has the consequence that there is no valid consent to arbitration under the treaty. 7 3 CMS, supra note 1 at para Compagnie d Exploitation du Chemin de Fer Transgabonais v Gabon, Decision on Jurisdiction (19 December 2005) at para 35, ICSID, 26 ICSID Rev Daimler Financial Services v Argentina, Award (22 August 2012) at para 50, ICSID, ORIL IIC. 6 For detailed discussion see Christina Knahr, Investments In Accordance with Hosts State Law (2007) 4:5 TDM; Ursula Kriebaum, Chapter V: Investment Arbitration Illegal Investments (2010) Austrian Arbitration Yearbook Salini Costruttori SpA v Morocco, Decision on Jurisdiction (23 July 2001), ICSID, 42 ILM 606; Consorzio Groupement LESI-DIPENTA v Algeria, Award (10 January 2005) at para II. 24 (iii), ICSID, ORIL IIC 149; Gas Natural SDG SA v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction (17 June 2005) at paras 33-34, ICSID,
10 (2014) Vol 1:1 McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution 5 Revue de règlement des différends de McGill The treaty conferring jurisdiction directs the tribunal to apply host state law to the question of the investment s legality. In turn, the investment s legality determines its protection under the treaty, including access to arbitration. Therefore, the treaty s criterion of legality serves as a gateway for the application of host state law. In Metal-Tech v Uzbekistan the Tribunal described the link between the host state s law and jurisdiction in the following terms: [T]he Tribunal comes to the conclusion that corruption is established to an extent sufficient to violate Uzbekistan law in connection with the establishment of the Claimant s investment in Uzbekistan. As a consequence, the investment has not been implemented in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Contracting Party in whose territory the investment is made as required by Article 1(1) of the BIT Uzbekistan s consent to ICSID arbitration, as expressed in Article 8(1) of the BIT, is restricted to disputes concerning an investment. Article 1(1) of the BIT defines investments to mean only investments implemented in compliance with local law. Accordingly, the present dispute does not come within the reach of Article 8(1) and is not covered by Uzbekistan s consent. This means that this dispute does not meet the consent requirement set in Article 25(1) of the ICSID Convention. Accordingly, failing consent by the host state under the BIT and the ICSID Convention, this Tribunal lacks jurisdiction over this dispute. 8 Practice shows that tribunals have developed several criteria to contain the potentially farreaching consequences of importing host state law into the law applicable to jurisdiction by way of the legality requirement. These criteria include the severity of the violation, 9 the question whether the domestic rules involved were part of the host state s investment regime 10 and whether the illegality related to the making of the investment or merely to its conduct. 11 ORIL IIC 115; Bayindir Insaat Turizm Ticaret ve Sanayai AŞ v Pakistan, Decision on Jurisdiction (14 November 2005) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 27; Mytilineos Holdings SA v Serbia, Decision on Jurisdiction (8 September 2006) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 345 [Mytilineos]; Saipem SPA, supra note 1 at paras 79-82, ; Aguas del Tunari SA v Bolivia, Decision on Jurisdiction (21 October 2005) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 8; Desert Line Projects LLC v Yemen, Award (6 February 2008) at para 104, ICSID, ORIL IIC 319 [Desert Line]; Nordzucker AG v Poland, First Partial Award (10 December 2008) at para 167, Ad Hoc UNCITRAL [Nordzucker]; SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA v Paraguay, Decision on Jurisdiction (12 February 2010) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 525 [SGS]; Railroad Development, supra note 1 at para 140; Alasdair Ross Anderson v Costa Rica, Award (19 May 2010) at paras 50-59, ICSID, ORIL IIC 437; Fakes v Turkey, Award (14 July 2010) at para 115, ICSID, ORIL IIC 439 [Fakes]; Quiborax, supra note 1 at para Metal-Tech v Uzbekistan, Award (4 October 2013) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 619 [Metal-Tech]. 9 Rumeli Telekom AS v Kazakhstan, Award (29 July 2008) at para 168, ICSID, ORIL IIC 344; Desert Line, supra note 7 at para 104; Metalpar SA v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction (27 April 2006) at para 84, ICSID, ORIL IIC 164; Mytilineos, supra note 7 at paras ; Inmaris Perestroika, supra note 1 at paras ; Vanessa Ventures Ltd v Venezuela, Award (16 January 1913) at para 167 [Vanessa]; Tokios Tokelės v Ukraine, Decision on Jurisdiction (29 April 2004) at para 86, ICSID, 20 ICSID Rev 205 [Tokios Tokelės]. See also Alpha Projektholding, supra note 1 at paras Fakes, supra note 7 at para 119; 11 Jan Oostergetel and Theodora Laurentius v The Slovak Republic, Decision on Jurisdiction (30 April 2010) at paras , Ad Hoc UNCITRAL; Gustav F W Hamester GmbH & Co KG v Ghana, Award
11 (2014) Vol 1:1 Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer 6 Another issue with jurisdictional implications that is governed in large part by domestic law is the investor s nationality. The claimant s nationality is an essential requirement for jurisdiction under treaties. The nationality of a natural person is determined primarily by the law of the State whose nationality is claimed. 12 In Soufraki v UAE the Tribunal reaffirmed the primary relevance of national law to questions of nationality. The Tribunal also emphasized that it had jurisdiction to scrutinise whether the nationality requirements under domestic law were fulfilled: It is accepted in international law that nationality is within the domestic jurisdiction of the State, which settles, by its own legislation, the rules relating to the acquisition (and loss) of its nationality. [...] But it is no less accepted that when, in international arbitral or judicial proceedings, the nationality of a person is challenged, the international tribunal is competent to pass upon that challenge. 13 Another issue that is governed by domestic law is the existence of the proprietary rights underlying the investment. That question is discussed in more detail below. 14 These examples demonstrate that the rules governing the jurisdiction of a tribunal are subject to their own regime of applicable law that is independent of the law governing the merits of a case. In most cases that law will be determined by the instruments providing for arbitration. In investment treaty arbitration most often this is a BIT and the ICSID Convention. On some questions, such as the investment s legality, the investor s nationality and the existence of property and similar rights, the relevant treaty refers to domestic law. III. Does Jurisdiction Determine the Applicable Law? A. The Scope of Jurisdiction The scope of jurisdiction as determined by treaty clauses providing for consent to arbitration varies. Under some treaties jurisdiction for investor-state disputes is limited to disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the treaty s substantive standards. For instance, in Article 11(1) of the El Salvador-Spain BIT consent to arbitration extends to any dispute [...] concerning matters regulated by this Agreement. 15 Similarly, Article 17(1) of the Japan-Cambodia BIT provides for jurisdiction over a dispute concerning an alleged breach of any right conferred by (18 June 2010) at paras 127, 129, ICSID, ORIL IIC 456; Fakes, supra note 7 at para 119; Quiborax, supra note 1 at para 266; Urbaser SA and Consorcìo de Aguas Bilbao Bizkaia, Bilbao Biskaia Ur Partzuergoa v Argentine Republic, Decision on Jurisdiction (19 December 2012) at para 260, ISCID, Case No ARB/07/26; Teinver, supra note 1 at paras ; Vanessa, supra note 9 at 167; Metal-Tech, supra note 8 at paras , 267, Champion Trading Company v Egypt, Decision on Jurisdiction (21 October 2003) at s 3.4.1, ICSID, [2004] 19 ICSID Rev 275 at (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes); Siag v Egypt, Decision on Jurisdiction (11 April 2007) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 288; Micula v Romania, Decision on Jurisdiction (24 September 2008) at paras 86, 101, ICSID, ORIL IIC Soufraki v UAE, Award (7 July 2004) at para 55, ICSID, ORIL IIC See s II.E. below. 15 For an application of this provision see: Inceysa Vallisoletane SL v El Salvador, Award (2 August 2006) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 134.
12 (2014) Vol 1:1 McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution 7 Revue de règlement des différends de McGill this Agreement. 16 Austria s Model BIT offers arbitration for disputes concerning an alleged breach of an obligation under this Agreement. 17 Canada s Model Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) provides for investor-state arbitration in respect of claims alleging breaches of certain listed substantive provisions of the treaty. 18 The Guatemala-Spain BIT, applicable in Iberdrola v Guatemala, 19 provided for jurisdiction concerning matters governed by this Agreement. 20 The Tribunal contrasted this limited jurisdictional clause with comprehensive clauses contained in other treaties: [T]he Treaty contrasts with other bilateral investment treaties signed by Guatemala and by Spain, which extend arbitral jurisdiction to any dispute, every dispute, the disputes, the differences or every class of disputes or of differences as regards the extent of protection. The language of the Treaty is restricted [...] which means that the Republic of Guatemala did not give general consent to submit any kind of dispute or difference related to investments made in its territory to arbitration, but only those related to violations of substantive provisions of the treaty itself. 21 Under Article 1116 of the NAFTA the scope of the consent to arbitration is limited to claims arising from alleged breaches of the NAFTA itself. 22 Also, under Article 26(1) of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) the scope of the consent is limited to disputes which concern an alleged breach of an obligation [...]under Part III [of the ECT]. 23 This concordance of jurisdiction with the treaty s substantive standards is by no means the norm. Many BITs, in their consent clauses, contain phrases such as all disputes concerning investments or any legal dispute concerning an investment. For instance, China s Model BIT offers arbitration for [a]ny legal dispute [...] in connection with an investment [...]. The French Model BIT refers to [t]out différent relatif aux investissements. Germany s Model BIT simply refers to [d]isputes concerning investments. Italy s Model BIT refers to [a]ny dispute [...] on investment. Russia s Model BIT covers [d]isputes [...] in connection with an investment. The United Kingdom Model BIT offers two versions. One version, marked as [Preferred], refers to any legal dispute [...] concerning an investment. Another version, marked as [Alternative], refers to [d]isputes [...] concerning an obligation [...] under this Agreement. 24 These provisions do not restrict a tribunal s jurisdiction to claims arising from alleged violations of the BITs substantive standards. By their own terms, these consent clauses encompass disputes that go beyond the interpretation and application of the BIT itself and would include 16 See Chester Brown, ed, Commentaries on Selected Model Investment Treaties (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013) at 374 [Brown]. 17 Ibid at Ibid at Iberdrola Energia SA v Republic of Guatemala, Award (17 August 2012), ICSID, ORIL IIC Ibid at para Ibid at para 306 [footnotes omitted]. 22 United Parcel Service of America Inc v Canada, Award on Jurisdiction (22 November 2002) at para 34, ICSID, ORIL IIC Kardassopoulos v Georgia, Decision on Jurisdiction (6 July 2007) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 294 [Kardassopoulos]. 24 Brown, supra note 16 at 172, 276, 316, 340, 614, 743.
13 (2014) Vol 1:1 Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer 8 disputes that arise from a contract and other rules of law in connexion with the investment. In Salini v Morocco, Article 8 of the BIT between Italy and Morocco defined ICSID s jurisdiction in terms of [t]ous les différends ou divergences [...] concernant un investissement. The Tribunal noted that the terms of this provision were very general and included not only a claim for violation of the BIT but also a claim based on contract: Article 8 obliges the State to respect the jurisdictional choice arising by reason of breaches of the bilateral Agreement and of any breach of a contract which binds it directly. 25 In Vivendi v Argentina, Article 8 of the BIT between France and Argentina offered consent for [a]ny dispute relating to investments. In its discussion of the BIT s fork in the road clause, the ad hoc Committee said: Article 8 deals generally with disputes relating to investments made under this Agreement between one Contracting Party and an investor of the other Contracting Party. [...] Article 8 does not use a narrower formulation, requiring that the investor s claim allege a breach of the BIT itself. Read literally, the requirements for arbitral jurisdiction in Article 8 do not necessitate that the Claimant allege a breach of the BIT itself: it is sufficient that the dispute relate to an investment made under the BIT. This may be contrasted, for example, with Article 11 of the BIT [dealing with State/State dispute settlement], which refers to disputes concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement, or with Article 1116 of the NAFTA, which provides that an investor may submit to arbitration under Chapter 11 a claim that another Party has breached an obligation under specified provisions of that Chapter. 26 This position has not remained uncontested. In SGS v Pakistan Article 9 of the BIT between Switzerland and Pakistan referred to disputes with respect to investments. The Tribunal found that the phrase was merely descriptive of the factual subject matter of the disputes and did not relate to the legal basis of the claims or cause of action asserted in the claims. Therefore, the Tribunal held that it had no jurisdiction with respect to contract claims which did not also constitute breaches of the BIT s substantive standards. 27 In other words, the Tribunal was of the view that, despite the wide jurisdictional clause, it could not go beyond the BIT s substantive standards. Other tribunals have declined to follow that decision. 28 In SGS v Philippines Article VIII(2) of the Switzerland/Philippines BIT offered consent to arbitration for disputes with respect to 25 Salini, supra note 7 at para Compañía de Aguas del Aconquija SA and Vivendi Universal (formerly Compagnie Générale des Eaux) v Argentine Republic, Decision on Annulment (3 July 2002) at para 55, ICSID, 19 ICSID Rev 1, ORIL IIC SGS Sociéte Générale de Surveillance SA v Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Decision on Jurisdiction (6 August 2003) at para 161, ICSID, 18 ICSID Rev 307, 42 ILM Tokios Tokelės, supra note 9 at para 52; Siemens AG, supra note 1 at para 205. See also the discussions in Salini Costruttori SpA and Italstrade SpA v The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Decision on Jurisdiction (29 November 2004) at paras , ICSID, 20 ICSID Rev FILJ 148, 44 ILM 569, ORIL IIC [Salini]; Impregilo SpA v Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Decision on Jurisdiction (22 April 2005) at paras 57, 82, 102, 188, ICSID, ORIL IIC 133 [Impregilo]; Parkerings-Compagniet AS v Republic of Lithuania, Award (11 September 2007) at paras , ICSID, 22 ICSID Rev 446, ORIL IIC 302 [Parkerings].
14 (2014) Vol 1:1 McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution 9 Revue de règlement des différends de McGill investments. The Tribunal found that the clause in question was entirely general, allowing for the submission of all investment disputes. This would go beyond disputes concerning the application of the BIT s substantive standards and would include contractual disputes. 29 This view was endorsed in Parkerings v Lithuania. The Tribunal in that case said: The phrase any dispute [ ] in connection with the investment as provided by Article IX (1) of the BIT is a general provision that provides the basis for an international Arbitral Tribunal s competence over any disputes related to an investment. 30 Other tribunals have also accepted that comprehensive jurisdictional clauses allow claimants to rely on substantive provisions beyond those of the treaty containing the jurisdiction clause. 31 In SGS v Paraguay 32 Article 9 of the Paraguay-Switzerland BIT referred to disputes with respect to investments [...]. The Tribunal noted the inclusive nature of a provision of this type: Article 9 provides for the resolution of disputes with respect to investments between a Contracting Party and an investor of the other Contracting Party, [...] There is no qualification or limitation in this language on the types of disputes with respect to investments that a Swiss investor may bring against the Republic of Paraguay. 33 As previously noted, the BIT s dispute resolution provisions (Article 9) are not on their terms limited to claims for breach of the BIT itself. Article 9(1) arguably extends the Treaty dispute settlement process to all manner of disputes related to investments. 34 The Award in Metal-Tech v Uzbekistan 35 once more corroborated the fact that a comprehensive jurisdiction clause allows the investor to go beyond the standards of protection contained in the treaty that confers jurisdiction. The Tribunal said in respect of the Israel-Uzbekistan BIT: Indeed, Article 8 of the Treaty contains the consent of the Contracting Parties to submit to ICSID any any legal dispute [...] concerning an investment of the latter in the territory of the former. Article 8 is thus a broad dispute resolution clause not limited to claims arising under the standards of protection of the BIT. 36 The practice of tribunals, as summarized above, overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that a tribunal, whose jurisdiction is based on an offer of consent in a treaty, will not be restricted to applying the substantive protections of that treaty if the clause circumscribing its jurisdiction is 29 SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA v Republic of the Philippines, Decision on Jurisdiction (29 January 2004) at paras , ICSID, 8 ICSID Rep 518, 19 Intl Arb Rep C1, 16(3) World Trade & Arb Mat 91, ORIL IIC 224 [Philippines]. 30 Parkerings, supra note 28 at para See e.g., MCI Power Group LC and New Turbine, Inc v Republic of Ecuador, Decision on Annulment (19 October 2009) at paras 71-72, ICSID, ORIL IIC 396; Alpha Projektholding, supra note 1 at para SGS, supra note Ibid at para Ibid at para Metal-Tech, supra note Ibid at para 378.
15 (2014) Vol 1:1 Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer 10 broad and refers to investment disputes in general terms. Under a wide jurisdictional clause of this nature the tribunal is authorised to entertain claims based on other sources of law, such as domestic law, other treaties and customary international law. An intermediate position between restriction to the treaty s substantive standards and jurisdiction for all investment disputes is taken by BITs of the United States. It refers to the BIT s substantive standards but adds investment agreements and investment authorizations as possible bases for a claim. For instance, Article VII of the Argentina-US BIT offers consent for investment disputes which are defined as follows: [A] dispute between a Party and a national or company of the other Party arising out of or relating to (a) an investment agreement between that Party and such national or company; (b) an investment authorization granted by that Party s foreign investment authority (if any such authorization exists) to such national or company; or (c) an alleged breach of any right conferred or created by this Treaty with respect to an investment. 37 The consent clause in Article 24 of the 2012 US Model BIT is similar. It covers breaches of the classical substantive standards in Articles 3-10, of an investment authorization, or of an investment agreement. 38 Some treaties, especially those of former communist countries, do not even extend jurisdiction to all claims based on the BITs substantive standards. Rather, they restrict consent to claims arising from expropriations. For instance, Article 7 of the Cyprus-Hungary BIT provides for submission to arbitration of: Any dispute between either Contracting Party and the investor of the other Contracting Party concerning expropriation of an investment [...] In order to establish jurisdiction under a consent clause of this kind, a tribunal must first establish the existence of an expropriation. Tribunals applying consent clauses of this type were restricted to finding whether an expropriation had occurred and, if so, to awarding compensation. 39 In ST-AD v Bulgaria, 40 Article 4(3) of the Bulgaria-Germany BIT provided for international arbitration in the case of a disagreement over the amount of compensation in case of an expropriation. 37 For applications of this clause see Continental Casualty Company v Argentina, Decision on Jurisdiction (22 February 2006) at para 68, ICSID, ORIL IIC 77 [Continental Casualty]; Chevron Corporation (USA) and Texaco Petroleum Company (USA) v The Republic of Ecuador, Interim Award (1 December 2008) at paras , UNCITRAL, ORIL IIC Brown, supra note 16 at Berschader, supra note 1 at paras ; Telenor Mobile Communications AS v Hungary, Award (13 September 2006) at paras 18(2), 25, 57, 81-83, ICSID, 21 ICSID Rev, ICC 248; ADC Affiliate Limited and ADC & ADMC Management Limited v Hungary, Award (2 October 2006) at para 12, ICSID, ORIL IIC 1 [ADC] (surprisingly, in this case the Tribunal made a finding of breach of other standards that were outside its jurisdiction: see para 445); Saipem SPA, supra note 1 at paras 70, ; Tza Yap Shum v Peru, Decision on Jurisdiction (19 June 2009) at paras , ICSID, ORIL IIC 382; Austrian Airlines v Slovakia, Award (9 October 2009) at paras , UNCITRAL, ORIL IIC 434; Emmis International Holding v Hungary, Award (16 April 2014) at paras , 147, ICSID, Case No ARB/12/2 [Emmis]. 40 ST-AD GmbH (Germany) v The Republic of Bulgaria, Award on Jurisdiction (18 July 2013), Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Case No (ST-BG) [ST-AD].
16 (2014) Vol 1:1 McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution 11 Revue de règlement des différends de McGill The Claimant argued that as long as the BIT provides certain protections, those protections are necessarily also covered by the [treaty s] dispute settlement provision. The Tribunal rejected that argument and said that the Claimant was restricted to claims in connection with compensation for expropriation. It made the following general statement on the difference between the treaty s substantive protection and access to protection through arbitration: The scope of the substantive protections granted in an international treaty does not have to be, and is not in this particular BIT, coextensive with the scope of the dispute settlement mechanisms, in particular the scope of investorstate arbitration. It is indeed not because a State has given its consent to grant certain substantive rights to the investors of another State that it automatically flows from such consent that the State also gives its consent for these investors to sue the State directly in an international arbitration. For such right to come into existence, specific consent has to be given within the treaty. The State can shape this consent as it sees fit, by providing for the basic conditions under which it is given, or, in other words, the conditions under which the offer to arbitrate is made to the foreign investors. 41 The different provisions on the scope of jurisdiction of investment tribunals contained in these treaties have obvious implications for the substantive law to be applied by them. Under the narrowest clauses only one particular aspect of the treaty s substantive standards is within a tribunal s ambit of authority. Other treaties provide for jurisdiction over disputes arising from any of the treaty s standards. Under yet another group of treaties tribunals are authorised to adjudicate any investment dispute even if it includes claims beyond the treaties substantive protections. This may require the tribunal to apply various aspects of domestic law and general international law. B. Treaty Provisions on Applicable Law Some investment treaties contain provisions on the law to be applied by investment tribunals. The most important provision on applicable law in investment arbitration is Article 42(1) of the ICSID Convention: (1) The Tribunal shall decide a dispute in accordance with such rules of law as may be agreed by the parties. In the absence of such agreement, the Tribunal shall apply the law of the Contracting State party to the dispute (including its rules on the conflict of laws) and such rules of international law as may be applicable. Under this provision the choice is primarily with the parties to the dispute. The subsidiary rule refers to host state law and to applicable rules of international law. In the case of non-icsid arbitration, the relevant UNCITRAL and ICC Rules (Art 21(1)) also direct that a tribunal primarily apply the law designated by the parties. In the absence of a choice the tribunal is to apply the law that it determines to be appropriate. 42 Some treaties offering consent to arbitration contain their own rules on applicable law. A rule on applicable law in a treaty that offers consent to arbitration becomes part of the arbitration 41 ST-AD, supra note 40 at para UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, GA Res 65/22, UNCITRAL, 2010, Supp No 17, UN Doc A/65/465 (2010), art 35(1); ICC, Rules of Arbitration (2012), art 21(1).
17 (2014) Vol 1:1 Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer 12 agreement. Acceptance by the investor of the offer of consent to jurisdiction in the treaty includes the acceptance of the clause on applicable law, leading to an agreed choice of law. Tribunals have confirmed that treaty clauses of this type were the basis for an agreement on choice of law between the host State and the investor. 43 In Siemens v Argentina the Tribunal held that a choice of law provision in the applicable BIT led to an agreement by the parties pursuant to Article 42(1) first sentence of the ICSID Convention. The Tribunal said: By accepting the offer of Argentina to arbitrate disputes related to investments, Siemens agreed that this should be the law to be applied by the Tribunal. This constitutes an agreement for purposes of the law to be applied under Article 42(1) of the Convention. 44 The majority of BITs do not contain rules on applicable law. In the case of ICSID arbitration, that leads to the application of the residual rule of Article 42(1) referring to host state law and to applicable rules of international law. A minority of treaties contain clauses that indicate the applicable law. These clauses are not uniform. In their simplest form, they refer to the treaty itself and to relevant rules of international law. For instance, Article 40(1) of the Canada Model FIPA provides: A Tribunal established under this section shall decide the issues in dispute in accordance with this Agreement and applicable rules of international law. 45 Other treaty clauses are more elaborate. Often they incorporate references to the BIT itself, to the law of the State party to the dispute, including its rules on the conflict of laws, and to the rules and principles of international law. Some BITs add a reference to any agreement relating to the particular investment. For instance, the BIT between Argentina and Italy, contains the following rule on applicable law in Article 8(7): The arbitration tribunal will decide on the basis of the laws of the Contracting Party involved in the dispute including its rules on the conflict of laws and of the provisions of the Agreement, of clauses of any particular agreements relating to the investment, as well as on the basis of the applicable principles of international law. 46 Upon closer examination the difference between these rules on applicable law is not as stark as may appear at first sight. The default rule under Article 42(1) of the ICSID Convention captures most if not all elements contained in the more elaborate formulae on applicable law contained in other treaties. It covers the law of the host state (including its rules on the conflict of laws). It covers the substantive rules of the treaty conferring jurisdiction. It covers other relevant treaties and it covers general (customary) international law. 43 Goetz and Five Belgian Shareholders of AFFIMET v Burundi, Award (10 February 1999) at para 94, ICSID, 15 ICSID Rev 457, ORIL IIC Siemens, supra note 1 at para Brown, supra note 16 at Abaclat, supra note 1 at 100.
18 (2014) Vol 1:1 McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution 13 Revue de règlement des différends de McGill The only significant difference between the various rules on applicable law in treaties lies in the absence of a reference to host state law in some of them. The narrower clauses refer only to the treaty itself and to applicable rules of international law. C. Is there a Correlation between the Scope of Jurisdiction and Applicable Law? One might expect that the rules on applicable law in treaties would correspond to their rules on jurisdiction. It would seem logical to find the simpler version of the choice of law clause in treaties that offer jurisdiction only for claims based on the treaty itself and the more elaborate version in treaties that offer jurisdiction for all investment disputes. Where jurisdiction exists only for violations of some or all of the treaty s own standards one would expect a restrictive choice of law clause. In a treaty that offers jurisdiction for any investment dispute one would expect a more comprehensive choice of law. A look at the relevant treaties does not bear out this expectation. The relevant treaties do not show a consistent correspondence between the scope of jurisdiction offered by them and the rules on applicable law. Under some treaties jurisdiction and applicable law appear to coincide. But in other treaties there is no meaningful correlation. Under some treaties a narrow jurisdictional clause is indeed matched by a simple choice of law clause. For instance, the Model BIT of Austria in Article 13 offers jurisdiction only for violations of the substantive standards of the respective treaties. Accordingly, its provision on applicable law (Article 18(1)) refers to this agreement and applicable rules and principles of international law. 47 Similarly, Article 17(1) of Japan s BIT with Cambodia offers consent to arbitration only for disputes arising out of, an alleged breach of any right conferred by this Agreement. The corresponding rule on applicable law in Article 17(14) refers to this Agreement and applicable rules of international law. 48 The NAFTA and the ECT also fall into this group. As pointed out above, consent to arbitration under Article 1116 of the NAFTA is limited to claims arising from alleged breaches of the NAFTA itself. The NAFTA, in its Section dealing with the settlement of investment disputes, contains the following provision on applicable law: ARTICLE 1131 Governing Law 1. A Tribunal established under this Section shall decide the issues in dispute in accordance with this Agreement and applicable rules of international law. [...] 49 Similarly, under the Energy Charter Treaty Article 26 limits jurisdiction to disputes concerning the alleged violation of the ECT itself. Accordingly, Article 26(6) of the ECT contains the following rule on applicable law: A tribunal established under paragraph (4) shall decide the issues in dispute in accordance 47 Brown, supra note 16 at 38, Ibid at 374, North American Free Trade Agreement Between the Government of Canada, the Government of Mexico and the Government of the United States, 17 December 1992, 32 ILM 605 (entered into force 1 January 1994) [NAFTA].
19 (2014) Vol 1:1 Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Investment Treaty Arbitration Christoph Schreuer 14 with this Treaty and applicable rules and principles of international law. 50 By contrast, other treaties offering jurisdiction only for cases of alleged breaches of the treaty, use a more comprehensive formula on choice of law. For instance, Article 10 of the Argentina- Netherlands BIT of 1992, after providing for ICSID arbitration regarding issues covered by this agreement adds the following choice of law clause: 7. The arbitration tribunal addressed in accordance with paragraph (5) of this Article shall decide on the basis of the law of the Contracting Party which is a party to the dispute (including its rules on the conflict of law), the provisions of the present Agreement, special Agreements concluded in relation to the investment concerned as well as such rules of international law as may be applicable. 51 The same applies to the BIT between Argentina and Italy, 52 to the BIT between El Salvador and Spain 53 and to the BIT between Guatemala and Spain. 54 The jurisdictional provisions in these treaties are all restricted to claims based on violations of their substantive standards. Yet they contain comprehensive clauses on applicable law that cover the host state s domestic law, the provisions of the BIT and of other treaties, particular agreements relating to the investment and principles of international law. Another group of BITs that limit jurisdiction to alleged violations of the treaty itself, do not contain provisions on applicable law. Examples for treaties of this kind are Article 8 [Alternative] of the United Kingdom Model BIT, 55 as well as the BITs between Bolivia and the United Kingdom (Article 8), the BIT between the United Kingdom and Venezuela (Article 8) and the BIT between Denmark and Venezuela (Article 9). In ICSID arbitration this means that the default rule of Article 42(1) operates. That provision refers the tribunal to host state law and to applicable rules of international law. Treaties that offer wide jurisdiction, which is not restricted to the BITs substantive standards, are equally inconsistent when it comes to provisions on applicable law. Italy s Model BIT in Article X(1) covers [a]ny dispute [...] on investment. Yet its rule on choice of law in Article X(4) is limited to the provisions contained in this Agreement, as well as the principles of international law recognized by the two Contracting Parties. 56 Other treaties that offer wide jurisdiction use a more comprehensive formula for the 50 Energy Charter Treaty, September 2004, 2080 UNTS 95, 34 ILM 360 (1995) [ECT]. See Kardassopoulos, supra note 23 at para Many BITs, especially of Latin American countries, contain similar clauses. See Fedax v Venezuela, Award (9 March 1998) at para 30, ICSID, 37 ILM 1391, 5 ICSID Rep Fra la Repubblica Italiana e la Repubblica Argentina sulla Promozione e Protezione degli Investimenti, 22 March 1990 (entered into force 14 October 1990) arts 8(1), 8(7). 53 Acuerdo para la promoción y Protección Recíproca de las Inversiones entre el Reino de España y la Republica de El Salvador, 14 February 1995 (entered into force 20 February 1996) arts 11(1), 11(3). 54 Acuerdo entre El Reino de España y la República de Guatemala para la Promoción Recíproca de Inversiones, 9 December 2002 (entered into force 21 March 2004) arts 11(1), 11(3). 55 Brown, supra note 16 at Ibid at Under the Italian Model BIT this choice of law clause only applies to UNCITRAL arbitration.
20 (2014) Vol 1:1 McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution 15 Revue de règlement des différends de McGill applicable law. 57 China s Model BIT in Article 9 offers arbitration for [a]ny legal dispute [...] in connection with an investment [...]. The same Article contains the following direction on the applicable law: The arbitral award shall be based on the law of the Contracting Party to the dispute including its rules on the conflict of laws, the provisions of this Agreement as well as the universally accepted principles of international law. 58 Similarly, Article 10(1) of the Argentina-Germany BIT covers quite generally disputes [ ] relating to investments, followed by the direction in Article 10(5) that the tribunal should decide on the basis of this Treaty, and, as the case may be, on the basis of other treaties in force between the Contracting Parties, the internal law of the Contracting Party in whose territory the investment was made, including its rules of private international law, and on the general principles of international law. The largest number of treaties that provide for wide jurisdiction does not offer any guidance on applicable law. This includes the French Model BIT (Article 8) 59, Germany s Model BIT (Article 10) 60, Russia s Model BIT (Article 8) 61 and the [Preferred] variant of the United Kingdom Model BIT (Article 8). 62 Examples for actual treaties that provide for general jurisdiction but do not contain a direction on the governing law include the Switzerland-Philippines BIT (Article VIII), the Switzerland-Pakistan BIT (Article 9) and the Czech Republic-Israel BIT (Article 7). In the case of ICSID arbitration this means that the residual rule of Article 42(1) will apply. This residual rule directs the tribunal to apply host state law and applicable rules of international law. Only the US Model BIT shows a careful coordination between jurisdiction and applicable law. As set out above, the US Model BIT of 2012 offers consent to arbitration for claims of breaches of: (A) the treaty s substantive obligations (B) an investment authorization, or (C) an investment agreement. 63 Under Article 30, when a claim is based on the treaty s substantive obligations the tribunal shall decide the issues in dispute in accordance with this Treaty and applicable rules 57 See also Accord entre le Gouvernement de la République Française et le Gouvernement de la République Argentine sur l Encouragement et la Protection Réciproques des Investissements, 3 July 1991 (entered into force 3 March 2003) arts 8(1), 8(4); Acuerdo para la promoción y Protección Recíproca de Inversiones entre el Reino de España y la Republica Argentina, 3 October 1991 (entered into force 29 September 1992) arts X(1), X(5). 58 Brown, supra note 16 at Brown, supra note 16 at Ibid at Ibid at Ibid at US Model BIT (2012), art 24(1).