Investment Treaty Arbitration as a Species of Global Administrative Law

The article outlines a simple thesis: that international investmentarbitration – pursuant to regional and bilateral investmenttreaties – offers the clearest example of global administrativelaw, strictly construed, yet to have emerged. We present thisthesis by explicating four key features of investment treaties:they permit investor claims against the state without exhaustinglocal remedies; they allow claims for damages; they allow investorsto directly seek enforcement of awards before domestic courts;and they facilitate forum-shopping. Our argument is that, owingto this unique conjunction of features, the regulatory conductof states is, to an unusual extent, subject to control throughcompulsory international adjudication. Having highlighted thesefeatures, we then claim that investment arbitration is bestanalogized to domestic administrative law rather than to internationalcommercial arbitration, especially since investment arbitrationengages disputes arising from the exercise of public authorityby the state as opposed to private acts of the state. Further,we claim that the linkages between investment arbitration anddomestic legal systems are more direct and more closely integratedthan other forms of international adjudication in the publicsphere. For these reasons, we argue that the emerging regimeof investment arbitration is to be understood as constitutingan important and powerful manifestation of global administrativelaw.     

J.D. Ohlin,The Assault on International Law

Netherlands International Law Review -     

R.S.J. Martha,The Financial Obligation in International Law

Netherlands International Law Review -     

国际投资法的自由化趋势与我国投资法的重构

晚近，国际投资法律呈现出了前所未有的自由化趋势。但是，各国外资法律过快的自由化，尤其是对发展中国家而言，任凭外资毫无限制地垄断本国的一些重要经济部门，将会给其国民经济发展带来极大的负面作用。因此，我们应根据我国目前的经济发展状况和引进外资的长远目标来谨慎地实行外资立法自由化，正确地确定重构外资立法的基本思路。     

对条约在国际法中的地位、缺陷与发展趋势问题的探讨

在今天 ,随着国际社会各个成员之间的相互联系、相互依赖程度的不断加深 ,条约在国际法和国际关系中占有重要地位。可以说 ,一部国际法的产生和发展的历史 ,同时也是一部条约产生和发展的历史。由于条约具有能够快速、及时、明确地确定各类国际法主体之间的权利和义务关系的优点 ,条约已经成为当代国际法上的最重要的渊源。另外 ,条约不但是国际法主体参与国际关系和进行国际交换的主要工具 ,而且成为国际法主体解决彼此之间各种争端的必不可少的法律工具。最后 ,条约争端的解决机制既是对现行国际争端解决机制的发展 ,又有利于维护国际社会的和平与安全。但是 ,另一方面 ,不可否认的是 ,条约也存在诸多不大可能克服的缺陷 ,如条约的非普遍性、条约执行的非自动性以及条约往往不能得到很好的遵守和执行等等。     

Investment Treaty Law and the Fear for Sovereignty: Transnational Challenges and Solutions

This article addresses the vagueness, and the interpretative challenges associated with, international investment agreements (IIAs) and develops a new normative framework for interpreting these treaties. It focuses on the historical embedding of investment protection as a means of facilitating economic development as well as upon its synthetic public law nature. The analysis shows that a teleological approach to interpretation imposes boundaries on the meaning of substantive IIA provisions. The article then elaborates how the transnational dimension of IIAs provides a benchmark, which is the level of protection offered to economic actors against interference by the state in countries with the highest rule of law standards. The article then shows how the resulting challenges of comparative public law could be addressed through the methodology of re‐ and pre‐statement of transnational uniform ‘principles’: sophisticated and detailed rules striking the proper balance between private economic interests and the public regulatory interest, so as to provide more legal certainty for both investors and host states.     

国际法的人本化趋势与国际投资法的革新

国际法的人本化要求国际社会不仅要关注跨国经济交往带来的经济增长和社会福利的增加，而且要关注和解决经济活动所伴生的环保问题和人权问题。现有的多数国际投资条约，无论从实体法还是从程序法视角来考察，都无法适应人本化的需求，也无助于与投资相关的人权、环保等社会价值的实现，因而导致了近年来一系列的相关改革。改变现有投资条约过分偏袒投资者而忽略东道国管辖权及与投资关联的各种社会价值的立法导向，强化投资者的社会责任，给予东道国政府及其国民直接依据国际法追究跨国公司社会责任的权利和机会，将是未来国际投资法革新的重要内容。     

论国际投资仲裁正当性危机

当前,国际投资仲裁裁决不一致、国际投资仲裁程序损害东道国主权的现象时有发生,使得人们对国际投资仲裁的正当性产生了质疑。造成国际投资仲裁裁决不一致的主要原因在于BIT特定条款规定较模糊、国际投资仲裁实践仍不够丰富。造成国际投资仲裁裁决损害东道国主权的主要原因在于缔约国签订了高度自由的BIT,让渡了过多的主权。各缔约国签订BIT时可尝试就一些重要条款的含义与适用标准做出更明确的规定,并用好＂四大安全阀＂,维护自身主权免受不合理的侵犯。同时国际投资仲裁制度也应通过增强透明度、设立合并仲裁等方式弥补程序本身的不足。     

中外双边投资条约中经济主权问题研究

本文对经济主权的实质、内容和特征进行探讨 ,并从中外双边投资条约的内容入手 ,对我国坚持经济主权原则之体现和弊漏作出分析 ,提出经济主权之实现应注意的问题。     

论国际投资法体系的碎片化结构与性质

国际法的碎片化是一种中性的体系结构,是国际法体系以及其内部子体系发展中的客观样态。其中,国际投资法体系正呈现出典型的碎片化结构,它是国际投资法扩张发展的客观结果,根源在于其混合的性质。不仅如此,碎片化虽然给国际投资法体系带来了结构性困难,但对促进此体系的发展以及更宏观的国际经济秩序协调具有独特优势。     

The Last Bite of the BITs—Supremacy of EU Law versus Investment Treaty Arbitration

According to Article 267 TFEU, national courts of the EU Member States can (and sometimes must) ask for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice on the interpretation and application of Community law, including international treaties and recommendations, and on the validity of Community secondary legislation. In this way, it is ensured that EU citizens are treated equally throughout the Union. However, this is not applicable when it comes to arbitral proceedings, be they commercial or investment arbitrations. The Court does not accept references for preliminary rulings from arbitral tribunals. For this reason, respondent states in international arbitral proceedings have argued that arbitration and EU law are utterly incompatible. In their submissions as respondents in arbitral proceedings, EU Member States have argued that, as a result of EU accession, bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have been automatically terminated. In subsidiary, they sometimes claim that, due to their incompatibility with EU law, BITs cannot apply. But if BITs are not applicable anymore, there are few remedies left for investors within the EU.     

论对发展中国家参与投资条约仲裁的援助

近年来,发展中国家签署的双边投资条约在为其营造稳定、透明投资环境的同时,为投资者利用条约仲裁条款挑战东道国政府提供了创新性的争议解决模式。很多发展中国家缺乏参与投资条约仲裁的经验,并且没有能力支付雇用外部律师的昂贵费用,投资条约仲裁的合法性受到威胁。投资条约仲裁法律援助中心的建立,可以为发展中国家获取法律权威资料和法律专门人才提供便利,以使其能有效地应对投资条约争议的申请。     

Green Shoots in a Barren World: Recent Developments in International Investment Law

Netherlands International Law Review - This article begins from the observation that there have been a number of developments in international investment law-making and the jurisprudence of...     

论国际民事诉讼中的挑选法院

前言 挑选法院,又称择地行诉、选购法院,[1]它是一个外来词,英文表述为"Forum Shopping",主要指在国际民事诉讼中,当事人犹如选购商品一样,可以在所有享有管辖权的法院中选择一个最有利自己的法院提起诉讼.     

WTO体制下国际投资法的趋势与发展

国际投资的法律调整在一定程度上表现为对投资者经营权的保护和对外国投资行使管理权这两大内容的对峙。有关国际投资的法律调整 ,在国际法层面上尚未形成一套完整的法律制度体系 ,而主要集中反映在双边投资协定中。 1 995年世界贸易组织的正式建立和WTO协定的全面生效 ,促进了世界范围内外国投资活动的急剧增长 ,从而需要制定一套完整的国际规则对此加以规范。在这一背景下 ,联合国贸发会议、世界贸易组织、国际货币基金组织和经合组织等国际机构 ,先后为国际投资规则的发展作出积极努力 ,制定了一批规范性文件 ,为国际投资法的发展奠定了基础。近年来 ,有关国际投资的国际与国内立法实践 ,正反映了WTO体制下国际投资法的趋势与发展