International Investment Law in the Practice of International Arbitration

The research project “International Investment Law in the Practice of Arbitration"? aims at establishing the actual substantive investment law by analyzing the legal practice of international arbitral tribunals. This purpose involves to a large extent the interpretation and application of identical or similar treaty provisions which can be found in a dense network of bilateral and even multilateral investment treaties. The main research topics are admission requirements, standards like fair and equitable treatment, full protection and security, MFN and national treatment, as well as expropriation and issues of compensation and damages.

In the past ten years investment dispute settlement by arbitration has increased considerably. Especially the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), as part of the World Bank Group, has, apart from and UNCITRAL arbitration, significantly shaped the substantive investment law. Within the framework of this project the decisions and awards rendered by these investment tribunals are being systematically analyzed and commented on.

The project is funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). It commenced in March 2005 and will conclude in March 2011.