The Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) standard is the most important and, because of its flexible nature and its status as a ‘catch-all’ provision, most controversial investment protection standard in international investment treaties. The standard imposes the most far-reaching obligation of any aspect of such treaties. This thesis’ core contention is that the current investment tribunals’ interpretation of the FET standard prioritises the interests of foreign investors and neglects the perspectives of host developing countries. Therefore there is a pressing need to reconceptualise the interpretation of the FET standard. In service to depicting the perspectives of host developing countries, this thesis advances an understanding of classifications such as ‘developing’ and ‘developed’ that reflects the issues and challenges that these countries face in the investment dispute context, such as their lack of resources, administrative capacity, technology, and infrastructure, as much as the economic and social level of development international organisations generally emphasise in their classifications. It addresses socio-political circumstances such as political instability, social unrest, conflict and its aftermath, social and political transition, and economic crises and their impact on host developing countries in the investment dispute context. Through a detailed study of the approaches they have taken to such issues in their interpretation of the breach of FET standard in disputes involving host developing countries, it shows that current investment tribunals have taken inconsistent and inadequate approaches to the issues host developing countries face. It argues that a reconceptualised interpretation of the FET standard which acknowledges the developmental issues and challenges this thesis has identified would accommodate the needs of the host developing countries while continuing to give reasonable protections to foreign investors and therefore serve the needs of the system as a whole.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:655611 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Islam, Rumana |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/68648/ |
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