The settlement of petroleum expropriation disputes has been a challenging issue in the petroleum industry since the earliest cases. The issue, principally, relates to foreign investors' right to investment protection and the sovereign right of states, the clash of which causes such disputes. Striking a balance between these conflicting rights in order to save the disputants' relationship is a critical concern given the interdependent relationship of disputants which manifests itself in a cyclical manner. This in turn highlights the importance of finding a suitable dispute resolution method to reach the most appropriate and balanced resolution from both parties' viewpoint. Impartiality is, in this context, a key element when determining the most suitable method for resolving expropriation disputes. This is so considering that the reason for the abandonment of diplomatic protection and litigation as methods for resolving expropriation disputes was concerns over their partiality towards one of the disputants. Currently, with the proliferation of investment treaties, treaty-based arbitration has become the most popular method for resolving such disputes. However, the suitability of treaty-based arbitration is criticised as a process which is likely to be partial in favour of investors and their investment protection rights. Such a partiality is likely to be found in treaty-based arbitration's origin, substance and procedural aspects. Therefore, it can be argued that there is room for mediation as an alternative dispute resolution method to be adopted and supplemented arbitration for settlement of petroleum expropriation disputes. In fact, mediation enjoys various qualities which makes it especially attractive for such disputes, including its time and cost efficiency, its ability to explore win-win settlement options and to save the disputing parties' relationship, and the flexibility and collaborative nature of the process. More importantly, its self-determination principle is a feature which guarantees the impartiality of mediation. However, mediation, like other dispute resolution methods, is not without its disadvantages. It faces challenges with regard to its voluntary and non-binding nature, confidentiality, its inability to deal with the political overtones of petroleum expropriation disputes, its retarding effect on jurisprudence development and disputants' lack of familiarity with the process. Nonetheless, having proposed some solutions to these shortcomings, this thesis concludes that mediation should be used and encouraged more systematically for resolving petroleum expropriation disputes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:737945 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Moin, Donya |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=236001 |
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