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State Responsibility for Breaches of Investment Contracts

State Responsibility for Breaches of Investment Contracts

State Responsibility for Breaches of Investment Contracts

Author:
Jean Ho, National University of Singapore
Published:
February 2020
Availability:
Available
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9781108402439

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    There is a wealth of material that shapes the law of State responsibility for breaches of investment contracts. First impressions of an unsettled or uncertain law have thus far gone unchallenged. But unchallenged first impressions point to the need for a detailed study that investigates and analyses the sources, the content, the characteristics, and the evolution of this law. The argument at the heart of this monograph is that the law of state responsibility for breaches of investment contracts has carved a unique and distinct trajectory from the traditional route for the creation of international law, developing principally from arbitral awards, and mimicking, to a considerable extent, the general international law on the protection of aliens and alien property. This book unveils the remarkable journey of the law of state responsibility for breaches of investment contracts, from its origins, to its formation, to its arrival at the cusp of maturity.

    • Carves out the special law on investment contract protection from the general law of state responsibility, enabling participants and observers of international investment law to apply a bespoke body of rules to contractual disputes between foreign investors and host states
    • Explores unknown origins of contractual protection in international law through original archival research, showing how history exerts an important influence on the modern practice of investment contract protection
    • Discusses the future of investment contract protection from legal and political developments providing alternative perspectives on the legitimacy and longevity of international investment law

    Reviews & endorsements

    'The author has written an extremely valuable monograph on a topic that surprisingly has received little attention. International investment contracts were once considered the main source of obligations and of consent to binding dispute settlement, yet academic attention has been focused on treaty breach. This text examines the contractual context and makes the link between international responsibility of states under investment contracts and the international law developed through arbitral awards. It is well written and is a superb source of information and explanation about this aspect of international investment law.' Meg Kinnear, Secretary-General, International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, Washington DC

    'This monograph is a timely and important contribution to an area of law that is very much in use, but also mired in uncertainty. By analysing the history and development of international law that is specific to contractual protection, the author defines the contours and content of a unique branch of the law of state responsibility. Her thoroughly-researched and provocative thesis promises to engage international investment law scholars, practitioners, and students for years to come.' Hi-Taek Shin, Chairman, Seoul International Dispute Resolution Center

    'This work is a superlative historical and systematic analysis of legal materials on investment contracts to the present day. As unilateral reforms, both substantive and procedural, are applied to treaty-based investments, compelling foreign investors increasingly to seek contractual protections with a host State, it is likely to become an essential guide for all participants in this specialist field of investor-state investment disputes.' V.V. Veeder, QC, Essex Court Chambers, and Visiting Professor on Investment Arbitration, Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London

    See more reviews

    Product details

    February 2020
    Paperback
    9781108402439
    380 pages
    230 × 152 × 20 mm
    0.55kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • 1. Power and principle in the origins of contractual protection
    • 2. Arbitral awards and the generation of international law
    • 3. State responsibility and the core standard of treatment
    • 4. State responsibility and expropriation
    • 5. State responsibility and internationalisation
    • 6. The emerging international law on investment contract protection
    • 7. The future of international investment contract claims.
      Author
    • Jean Ho , National University of Singapore

      Jean Ho, FCIArb, is Assistant Professor of Law at the National University of Singapore, where she lectures and supervises on diverse aspects of international investment law. Prior to academia, Dr Ho practiced in investor-state dispute settlement. She is a Member of the Investment Treaty Forum of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, and an Expert on the UNIDROIT Working Group on Land Agricultural Investment Contracts. Dr Ho is also a co-author of International Investment Law and Arbitration: Commentary, Awards and Other Materials (Cambridge, 2018).