Investment treaty arbitration has a hybrid nature combining public international law (as regards its substance) with elements of international commercial arbitration (mainly as regards procedure). However, in essence and function it deals with a special, internationalised form of judicial review of governmental conduct that is more akin to the judicial control of governmental action provided for by national administrative and constitutional law than to either classic inter-state dispute resolution or international commercial arbitration. This has been recognised in some academic writing and several awards, where reference to national administrative law concepts and principles of international law-based judicial review of governmental action, such as international trade or human rights law, is used to help specify and apply the open-ended concepts of investment treaties. In-depth conceptualization is however often lacking. The current study is the first, pioneering effort to bring these under-developed ad hoc references to comparative and international administrative law concepts into a deeper theoretic and systematic framework. The book thus intends to develop a 'bridge' between treaty-based international investment arbitration and comparative administrative law on both a theoretical and practical level. The major obligations in investment treaties (indirect expropriation, fair and equitable treatment, national treatment, umbrella/sanctity of contract clause) and major procedural principles will be compared with their counterpart in comparative public law, both on the domestic as well as international level. That 'bridge' will allow international investment law to benefit from the comparative public law experience, which could enhance its legitimacy, its political acceptance, and its ability to develop more finely-tuned interpretations of central treaty obligations.

Attempts at developing a theory of international investment law are complicated by the fact that this field of international law is based on numerous, largely bilateral treaties and is implemented by arbitral panels established on a case-by-case basis. This suggests a fragmented and chaotic state of the law, with different levels of protection depending on the sources and targets of foreign investment flows. This book, however, forwards the thesis that international investment law develops, despite its bilateral form, into a multilateral system of law that backs up the functioning of a global market economy based on converging principles of investment protection. In discussing the function of most-favored-nation clauses, the possibilities of treaty-shopping and the impact of investor-State arbitration with its intensive reliance on precedent and other genuinely multilateral approaches to treaty interpretation, it offers a conceptual framework for understanding the nature and functioning of international investment law as a genuinely multilateral system.

International arbitration has developed into a global system of adjudication, dealing with disputes arising from a variety of legal relationships: between states, between private commercial actors, and between private and public entities. It operates to a large extent according to its own rules and dynamics - a transnational justice system rather independent of domestic and international law. In response to its growing importance and use by disputing parties, international arbitration has become increasingly institutionalized, professionalized, and judicialized. At the same time, it has gained significance beyond specific disputes and indeed contributes to the shaping of law. Arbitrators have therefore become not only adjudicators, but transnational lawmakers. This has raised concerns over the legitimacy of international arbitration. Practising Virtue looks at international arbitration from the 'inside', with an emphasis on its transnational character. Instead of concentrating on the national and international law governing international arbitration, it focuses on those who practise international arbitration, in order to understand how it actually works, what its sources of authority are, and what demands of legitimacy it must meet. Putting those who practise arbitration into the centre of the system of international arbitration allows us to appreciate the way in which they contribute to the development of the law they apply. This book invites eminent arbitrators to reflect on the actual practice of international arbitration, and its contribution to the transnational justice system.

This thoughtfully edited volume brings together leading scholars in the field to explore the relationship between the substantive standards of treatment contained in international investment agreements and the rule of law, which is developing into one of the key principles which both supporters and critics use to evaluate the investment treaty regime. Investment Protection Standards and the Rule of Law explores two perspectives. Firstly, it examines to what extent the substantive standards of treatment can be understood as expressions of the rule of law. Secondly, it addresses the rule-of-law problems, or rule-of-law lacunae, that exist in, or are created by, the application of these standards. The subject matter is advanced by combining doctrinal analysis of the core substantive treatment standards, as well as normative assessment of those standards from the perspective of the rule of law. This book also offers a critical discussion of the potential the rule of law has as a guidepost for structuring international investment relations, as well as its blind spots.

Attempts at developing a theory of international investment law are complicated by the fact that this field of international law is based on numerous, largely bilateral treaties and is implemented by arbitral panels established on a case-by-case basis. This suggests a fragmented and chaotic state of the law, with different levels of protection depending on the sources and targets of foreign investment flows. This book, however, forwards the thesis that international investment law develops, despite its bilateral form, into a multilateral system of law that backs up the functioning of a global market economy based on converging principles of investment protection. In discussing the function of most-favored-nation clauses, the possibilities of treaty-shopping and the impact of investor-State arbitration with its intensive reliance on precedent and other genuinely multilateral approaches to treaty interpretation, it offers a conceptual framework for understanding the nature and functioning of international investment law as a genuinely multilateral system.