Introduction

The dispute resolution provisions of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITS) and multilateral agreements such as NAFTA have created a new and important form of protection for the rights of foreign investors. However, the emergence of treaty-based claims by private investors against a State Party have raised challenges to some fundamental assumptions of international commercial arbitration. What changes does treaty-based arbitration require to established arbitral doctrine, so firmly based on the existence of a contract between the Parties? What does it mean for international law, ...