The purpose of my thesis is to analyse the arbitration as a means of settlement of international investment disputes. The reason for my research is the dynamic growth in number of international investment disputes which appears to examine the adaptability and viability of international law. The thesis is composed of four chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of the problems. Chapter One is introductory, it defines basic terminology used in the thesis and deals with the means of investment protection. The chapter is subdivided into four parts. Parts One to Three describe the fundamental terms such as international investment law, international investment and investor from economic and legal points of view. Part Four describes the historical background and the current state of foreign investment protection. Chapter Two focuses on international arbitration as a means of investment disputes settlement. It mentions several possibilities and analyses the two predominant ones - the arbitration mechanisms of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the ad hoc arbitration using the UNCITRAL rules. Chapter Three investigates the position of States in these disputes. It is subdivided into three parts. Part One compares the sovereignty of States with the substantive rights of the investors. Part Two examines the relation of this system to public law and Part Three questions the interests of private arbitrators. Chapter Four provides an outline of relevant Czech case law. Although it has not been very abundant up to the present day, it illustrates well the approach to decision-making by some arbitration courts and common faults of State agencies when addressing foreign investors. Conclusions are drawn in the final part of the thesis. The main aim of the thesis is to expand my initial hypothesis that international investment arbitration forms an unprecedential system, which addresses the balance between the interests of private investors and sovereign States. The standards of investment protection as described thereinbefore appear to be a powerful instrument to strengthen the position of foreign investors. Finally, several changes in the legislation and international treaties, which would equilibrate the balance back, are suggested in the Conclusion.

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1 ABSTRACT Implications of Termination of International Investment Agreements The international investment arbitration proceedings under the Washington Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States ("ICSID arbitration proceedings" and "ICSID Convention") represents predominantly used mechanism of Investor-state dispute settlement. The adjudicative system of investment arbitration resolving disputes concerning breaches of foreign investment protection within the territory of the host states granted by bilateral investment treaties ("BITs") faces increasing criticism. The reluctance to abide by the binding awards of the arbitral tribunals on behalf of the host states and evolving displeasure towards the ICSID arbitration system triggered the wave of terminations of international investment agreements initiated by the states of the Latin America. Termination of international investment agreements significantly disturbs the procedural protection of foreign investments and ultimately deprives the foreign investors of the right to have their claims against the host states heard in designated arbitration forum. The ICSID arbitration proceedings are characteristic for the interconnection between international investment agreements, particularly the ICSID Convention...

Defining environmental justice in the context of investment arbitration is a challenge. This question arises primarily in circumstances in which foreign investment has an actual or potential impact on the host state population's health, environment, or socio-cultural values. Under normal circumstances, the right of access to justice should be guaranteed by the law and the justice system of the host state. However, the right of access to justice declines when the controversy is taken to investment arbitration.  While the problem of environmental protection has been addressed in ISDS from the State perspective and its power to regulate, the rights of non-disputing parties and their legitimacy have been relegated. Awards in investment arbitration qualify as environmental decisions. Therefore, more than the traditional approach to Amicus participation in dispute resolution proceedings is needed under the perspective of procedural environmental rights recognised under several international environmental law instruments. This includes the scope of access to the information generated within the arbitration procedure, which should be available proactively and the possibility of remedies when there is a breach of environmental obligations of the investor who brings up its claim in the Investor-State Dispute Settlement system. To address this issue, developing a new model that considers environmental justice as part of investment arbitration is needed to achieve greater consistency and procedural certainty while safeguarding access to environmental justice.

No / The quest for environmental protection alongside economic development has been one of the prominent themes of political and legal discourse for several decades. This article examines the extent to which the principle of sustainable development (introduced under the Rio Declaration 1992) as a conceptual framework for balancing these competing goals has been integrated within the international investment law regime. It does this by examining decisions of investment tribunals on disputes relating to the legitimacy of government measures on environmental grounds. The analysis evidenced a lack of clear principles and mechanisms for balanced consideration of all competing interests; with the outcome being generally the subordination of environmental concerns to the protection of investors’ economic interests under international investment law. This supports criticism that although sustainable development has become one of society’s most sought-after goals, progress towards achieving this has been frustratingly slow. Against this background, the article goes on to determine whether the outcomes from the hugely anticipated Rio+20 Conference provided a framework or mechanisms that could promote sustainability integration in investment arbitrations. The article fi nds that while the outcome document from the main Rio+20 Conference did not provide such a framework, the Declaration from the Judge’s Conference, which was organised by UNEP and held simultaneously in Rio, provided some principles and mechanisms that, if fl eshed out, could contribute towards better integration of sustainability in the investment regime.

This thesis addresses risks of multiple recovery, prejudice to legitimate interests of third parties, and inadequate consideration of the applicable law in shareholder claims in investment treaty arbitration. It challenges the application by investment tribunals of two basic premises: i) that shareholders are entitled to claim for damages vis-à-vis measures against the company in which they hold shares and ii) that ‘contract claims’ are to be distinguished from ‘treaty claims’. The central argument is that the failure to recognize substantive overlaps between shareholder treaty claims and contract claims risks more than one recovery, potentially prejudices third parties, and can lead to an incomplete application of the applicable law. The foundations of standing and the cause of action in shareholder treaty claims involve two complementary ideas of independence, i.e., independence of shareholder treaty rights vis-à-vis the local company’s contractual/national law rights and independence of treaty claims vis-à-vis contract claims. However, the substance of shareholder treaty claims, defined as the state measure and particularly the losses involved, is often identical to or at least overlaps considerably with related contract/national law claims. Prevailing ideas on shareholder standing and the cause of action in international investment law have provided useful conceptual tools for jurisdictional determinations. Yet they have not allowed tribunals and the literature to fully consider the implications of shareholder indirect claims. The thesis argues, first, that investment tribunals should acknowledge substantive overlaps between contract and treaty claims. Second, shareholder claims may be inadmissible when such overlap exists and there is a risk of double recovery or prejudice to third parties. Third, the substantive coincidence of treaty and contract claims calls for an integrated approach to the applicable law, where proper weight is given not only to IIA provisions but also to general international law and the national law governing the investment.

In 1965, amid antagonism between capital-importing and capital-exporting states over investment protection, the World Bank created ICSID. ICSID facilitates the resolution of disputes between foreign investors and states. Since major initiatives to create investment rules have failed within the UN and OECD, ICSID is the only successful attempt to create a multilateral, inter-state organization dedicated to investment. This thesis probes the intellectual, political, and economic forces behind the creation and early development of ICSID. This study combines archival work, oral histories, and interviews with econometric work. On this basis, it illuminates how ICSID's creators-mainly staff in the World Bank's Legal Department-adapted their ideas to suit the charged political context. When disseminating the idea of ICSID to states, they relied on ambiguity, expertise, and incrementalism. These three characteristics constitute an approach to organization building that I term "modest multilateralism" since the World Bank's President praised ICSID as "a modest proposal." By illustrating how this approach operated in ICSID's case, I generate insights that are applicable to other international organizations. ICSID's creation differs from the expectations of institutionalist IR theory in important ways. First, there was little state leadership, and ICSID's founding Convention is devoid of substance-it merely outlines a procedure. In this way, it takes the idea of ambiguity to its extreme. Second, ICSID's founders took steps to shield the organization from the politics of investment protection: they asked states to send legal experts, not elected representatives, and avoided deliberative debate. Third, ICSID's design was explicitly evolutionary. ICSID can operate alongside changing substantive rules-multilateral, bilateral, or domestic. Finally, contrary to previous accounts, in this thesis the ICSID Secretariat emerges as a dynamic agent. The Secretariat actively pursued ratifications and advance consents to investor-state arbitration. The creation of ICSID fostered a community of practice, which subsequently redefined international investment law through treaty making and arbitral practice.

The public service has been, traditionally, a domestic concept of the Administrative Law. However, as a consequence of globalization, the public service regulation by the Administration is also subject to the Global Administrative Law, specifically in the context of the international investment arbitration. / El servicio público ha sido, tradicionalmente, un concepto propio del derecho administrativo doméstico. Sin embargo, como consecuencia de la globalización, la regulación del servicio público, como manifestación de la actividad administrativa, pasa a estar regida también por el derecho administrativo global, especialmente, en el contexto del arbitraje internacional de inversiones.

O presente trabalho tem como objeto a comparação entre a arbitragem comercial brasileira envolvendo a administração pública e a arbitragem de investimento no âmbito do International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID, sigla em inglês) - fórum mundialmente mais utilizado para resolver controvérsias entre investidor estrangeiro e Estado hospedeiro. Para cumprir este objetivo contextualiza-se o investimento estrangeiro no cenário global e como ele vem sendo tratado pela legislação brasileira, verifica-se a forma de operacionalização das arbitragens no âmbito do ICSID. Ainda, discute-se a arbitrabilidade, o direito aplicável e a forma de execução de sentenças pela referida Instituição, tanto de forma teórica como por meio de análise de casos. Foram selecionados casos paradigmas decididos no ICSID. Apresenta-se a legislação brasileira, no que tange a arbitragem envolvendo a administração pública e comparam-se as seguintes características com as da arbitragem ICSID: arbitrabilidade, direito aplicável; consentimento; procedimento arbitral, execução de sentença. Com a análise resultante deste estudo, revela-se que em termos de procedimento, consentimento e execução de sentença não há relevantes diferenças entre ambas as arbitragens. As características com as maiores diferenças de aplicação em ambos os sistemas são o direito aplicável e a arbitrabilidade. E, demonstrou-se que o sistema ICSID e os tratados ou acordos internacionais oferecem maior proteção ao investidor estrangeiro, enquanto a arbitragem com a administração pública brasileira, oferece mais instrumento de proteção ao Estado, como obrigatoriedade de utilização da lei local. / The object of this study is the comparison between the Brazilian commercial arbitration involving the public administration and the investment arbitration under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which is the most utilized forum to resolve disputes among foreign investor and the host State. In order to fulfill this objective the foreign investment is placed in context within the global scenario and how it has been treated in Brazilian legal framework, identifying the arbitration operationalization under the ICSID. Also is discussed the arbitrability, the applicable law and the form of award enforcement by the said institution, both theoretically and through case laws. Model cases decided by the ICSID were selected. Brazilian legislation regarding arbitration involving the public administration is presented. and following features was compared with the ICSID arbitration characteristics: arbitrability, applicable law; consent; arbitral proceeding, award enforcement. The resulting analysis of this study reveal that there are no relevant differences in terms of proceeding, consent and award enforcement between both arbitrations models. The features that presented larger application differences on both systems are the applicable law and arbitrability. Moreover, ICSID system and the international treaties or agreements offer higher protection to the foreign investor, the arbitration with the Brazilian public administration, can be more protective to the state, especially because of the use os local laws.

International Arbitration and its roots Arbitration, or in other words peaceful settlement of the dispute, is currently one of the most used methods of settlement of the disputes both on international and national levels. Considering the high augmentation of the disputes resolved through the means of arbitration especially in the last twenty years of this century the arbitration can boldly compete with the judicial resolution of the disputes in popularity and in the number of resolved cases. Considering the augmentation of use of arbitration clauses especially in the private law contracts, there is often a wrong idea, that the process of arbitration is primary an institute of the private law and that it is a new institute, which has been created in the modern times and historically did not exist at all. In chapters four till six of my thesis I will be focusing on proving that roots of today so often used institute of arbitration run deep in the history, till the times of Ancient Greece even, which was the cradle of the civilization as well as of the arbitration. Subsequently I will in this part map the evolution of the arbitration during the two thousand years of its existence, when on this I will show which aspects of the arbitration prevailed to these days and in which aspects contrary is the...