International Law Review

International Law Review

The Role of Umbrella Clause in Settlement of Foreign Investor and Host State Disputes in the Light of ICSID Arbitral Jurisprudence

Document Type : academic

Authors
Tavakkol Habibzadeh 1
Afifeh Gholami 2
1 Associate Professor, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Imam Sadiq University
2 Ph.D. Student of International Law, University of Mofid, Qom
10.22066/cilamag.2018.31885
Abstract
Investment arbitration usually has its legal basis in the bilateral investment treaty (BIT), regional or multilateral treaties or in an investment contract. Some treaties cover only disputes relating to obligations under these kinds of agreements, i.e. only for claims of treaty violations. Some others create an international law obligation, according to which the host state shall observe any binding obligation with respect to investments. These and other similar provisions are commonly called “umbrella clause”. Although other formulations have also been used,Clauses of this kind have been put into treaties to provide additional protection to investor and are directed for covering investment agreements that host countries frequently conclude with foreign investors. In most of the investment treaties, the umbrella clauses are not always with the same wording, so arbitral tribunals have given different interpretations and reached conflicting conclusions. This study gives an overview of the origin and significance of the wording of this Clause in BITs, then looks at the effect, scope, and conditions of application of the Clause as interpreted by ICSID arbitral tribunals and tries to analyze ICSID arbitral jurisprudence on the basis of restrictive or extensive interpretation of the Clause.
Keywords
Umbrella Clause
Investment Treaties
Investment Contracts
Arbitral Jurisprudence
ICSID

  • منابع:

    الف) فارسی

    ـ کتاب

    • پیران، حسین؛ مسائل حقوقی سرمایه‌گذاری بین‌المللی، گنج دانش، 1389.
    • عسکری، پوریا؛ حقوق سرمایه‌گذاری خارجی در رویه داوری بین‌المللی، شهر دانش، 1391.

     

    ـ مقاله

    • پیران، حسین؛ «شرط فراگیر در معاهدات دوجانبه سرمایه‌گذاری»، مجله حقوقی بین‌المللی، سال بیست‌وششم، شماره 40، 1388.
    • علومی یزدی، حمیدرضا و سمیه محمدی؛ «شرط التزام عام در معاهدات دوجانبه سرمایه‌گذاری»، فصلنامه پژوهش حقوق عمومی، سال شانزدهم، شماره 43، 1393.

     

    ـ پایان‌نامه

    • قربان‌کریمی، الهه؛ «جایگاه و تأثیر شرط التزام در تعهدات سرمایه‌گذاری خارجی»، پایان‌نامه کارشناسی ارشد حقوق تجارت بین‌الملل، تهران، دانشگاه شهید بهشتی، 1389.

     

    ب) انگلیسی

    - Books

    • Bishop, R. Doak, Crawford, James, Reisman, William Michael, Foreign Investment Disputes: Cases, Materials and Commentary, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2005.
    • L. Moses, Margaret, The Principles and Practice of International Commercial Arbitration, Cambridge University Press, New‌ York, 2000.
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    • Yannaca-Small, Katia, Arbitration under International Investment Agreements, Oxford University Press, New York, 2010.

     

    - Articles

    • B. Potts, Jonathan, “Stabilizing the Role of Umbrella Clauses in Bilateral Investment Treaties: Intent, Reliance, and Internationalization”, Virginia Journal of International Law, vol. 51, No. 4, 2011.
    • Crawford, James, “Treaty and Contract Investment Arbitration”, The 22nd Freshfields Lecture on International Arbitration, London, 29 November 2007.
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    • D. Franck, Susan, “The Legitimacy Crisis in Investment Treaty Arbitration: Privatizing Public International Law through Inconsistent Decisions”, Fordham Law Review, vol. 73, 2005.
    • Feit, Michael, “Responsibility of the State under International Law for the Breach of Contract Committed by a State-Owned Entity”, Berkeley Journal of International Law, vol. 28, Issue 1, Article 5, 2010.
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    • Shany, Yuval, “Contract Claims v. Treaty Claims: Mapping Conflicts between ICSID Decisions on Multi-Sourced Investment Claims”, American Journal of International Law, vol. 99, No. 4, 2005.
    • Wong, Jarrod, “The Application of Most-Favored-Nation Clauses to Dispute Resolution Provisions in Bilateral Investment Treaties”, Asian Journal of WTO & International Health Law and Policy, vol. 3, No. 1, 2008.
    • W. Schill, Stephan, “Enabling Private Ordering: Function, Scope and Effect of Umbrella Clauses in International Investment Treaties”, Minnesota Journal of International Law, vol. 18, 2009.

     

    - Documents

    • Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germanyand the Republic of Ghanaon the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, 25 February 1995.
    • Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States - International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, Washington 1965.
    • Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, 2001.
    • List of Pending Cases, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, at https://icsid.worldbank.org.

     

    - Cases

    • Bureau Veritas, Inspection, Valuation, Assessmant and Control, BIVACB.V v. Republic of Paraguay, ICSID Case No. ARB/07/9, Decision on Objection to Jurisdiction, May 29, 2009.
    • CMS Gas Transmission Company v. The Republic of Argentina, (ICSID Case No. ARB/01/8), Award of April 25, 2005.
    • Compañía de Aguas del Aconquija S.A. and Vivendi Universal S.A. v. Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/97/3, Decision on application for annulment, July 3, 2002.
    • El Paso Energy International Company v. Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/03/15, Award, October 31, 2011.
    • Eureko B.V. v. Republic of Poland, Ad Hoc Tribunal, Partial Award, August 19, 2005.
    • Impregilo S.P.A. v. Republic of Pakistan, ICSID Case No. ARB/03/3, Decision On Jurisdiction, April 22, 2005.
    • Gustav F W Hamester GmbH & Co KG v. Republic of Ghana, ICSID Case No.ARB/07/24, Award, Jun 18, 2010.
    • Joy Mining Machinery Limited v. Arab Republic of Egypt, ICSID Case No.ARB/03/11, Award, 6 August, 2004.
    • Noble Ventures, Inc. v. Romania, ICSID Case No. ARB/01/11, Award, October 12, 2005.
    • SGS Société Générale de Surveillance S.A. v. Islamic Repablic of Pakistan, ICSID Case No.ARB/01/13, Decision of the Tribunal on Objections to Jurisdiction, August 6, 2003.
    • SGS Société Générale de Surveillance S.A. v. Islamic Repablic of Philippines, ICSID Case No.ARB/02/6, Decision of the Tribunal on Objections to Jurisdiction, January 29, 2004.

  • Receive Date 22 August 2015
  • Revise Date 05 July 2017
  • Accept Date 06 August 2017