States get involved in international affairs either directly or through their instrumentalities. The activities of these instrumentalities raise many issues, two of which have given rise to significant recent developments both in arbitral and domestic case law. The first is whether and under what conditions a State may be held liable for the conduct of such instrumentalities on the basis of an investment treaty. This issue will be the subject of a systematic survey of ICSID and ICC case law and that of other arbitral tribunals so as to identify the circumstances in which such liability may arise. The second issue, which is addressed by State courts, is whether and under what conditions State instrumentalities that have a separate and autonomous legal personality may be held liable for the pecuniary obligations of the State. A comparative law study focusing in particular on solutions found in French, English and U.S. law will provide answers to the question as to whether an award holding a State liable may be enforced against the assets of instrumentalities of that State, where such instrumentalities are prima facie separate juridical persons.

What is it about international arbitration that makes it so open to evolution and adaptation? What are the main pressure points today and the unmet needs of stakeholders? What are the opportunities for expansion to new sectors and new audiences? What are the drivers for change, the obstacles and the risks? And equally important, what are the core principles that should never be lost? These were the topics of the Twenty-Fourth ICCA Congress, held in Sydney, Australia, in April 2018, the proceedings of which are collected in this volume. The volume highlights arbitration as a ‘living organism’ that has adapted in the past to various challenges, and that today – under attack from various quarters – might need to demonstrate its adaptability again. Accordingly, the contributions address the evolving needs of users, the impact of the rapidly changing face of technology, the expectations of the public, and the convergence and divergence of different aspects of legal traditions and cultures. Topical issues of interest for practitioners, academics, and students of arbitration include the following: legitimacy and authority of arbitrators, institutions and professional organizations to act as lawmakers; investment treaty reform, with particular reference to the definition of ‘investment,’ the evolution of substantive treaty standards, and sustainable development obligations; commercial arbitration reform, including issues of public and private interest, the development of common law, and cost, delay and transparency concerns; revisiting party autonomy in choosing decision-makers, including through institutional appointments or investment courts; equality of arms, the economics of access, and the role of costs and third-party funding; public-private disputes and special issues that arise when State entities arbitrate; public participation and transparency, and their effect on both ISDS and commercial arbitration; revisiting conventional wisdom in organizing arbitral proceedings; lessons to be learned from other dispute resolution frameworks; technology as friend and enemy, including new tools, new threats, and cybersecurity; arbitration of disputes in conflict and post-conflict zones; inter-generational blame and praise in investment arbitration; and the emergence of sovereign wealth funds as arbitration participants. A special section on ‘New Frontiers in Arbitration’ offers enlightening perspectives on new types of claims and new types of stakeholders likely to affect the future of international arbitration, including the potential for climate change disputes and enlarged participation.

This treatise describes the practice of international commercial arbitration with reference to the major international treaties and instruments, arbitration rules and national laws. It provides an analysis of the interaction between party autonomy and arbitration practice.

Le site d'éditeur Nomos indique : "International arbitral tribunals increasingly deal with cases in which the conduct of State entities enjoying separate legal personality harmed foreign investors. The book discusses the attribution of conduct of such entities in international investment law. Their conduct is, opposed to the conduct of actual State organs, not automatically attributable to the State, but only when the requirements of a specific rule of attribution are met. The author analyses these rules of attribution under public international law with the help of the ILC Articles on State Responsibility. Based on this analysis, the author examines the application of these rules in the jurisprudence of investment arbitration. Previous jurisprudence in this field has been relatively inhomogeneous and often lacked a sufficient distinguishing between the different rules of attribution. Concluding, the author argues in favour of strictly distinguishing between the rules and relying on the ILC Articles."

Edited by Shaheeza Lalani and Rodrigo Polanco Lazo, The Role of the State in Investor-State Arbitration is a collection of contributions from lawyers, arbitrators and political scientists on the development of the concept of the “State” in a field that currently presents an increasing number of controversial disputes: Investor-State Arbitration. The book analyzes the limits of the host State as a regulator, studying issues such as attribution and the role of State-Owned Enterprises and sub-State entities; the changing role of the home State in Investor-State disputes, including its direct participation in Investor-State arbitration and State to State dispute settlement; and the overall role that both home and host States can play in the improvement of Investor-State Dispute Settlement.

International arbitration has developed into a global system of adjudication, dealing with disputes arising from a variety of legal relationships: between states, between private commercial actors, and between private and public entities. It operates to a large extent according to its own rules and dynamics - a transnational justice system rather independent of domestic and international law. In response to its growing importance and use by disputing parties, international arbitration has become increasingly institutionalized, professionalized, and judicialized. At the same time, it has gained significance beyond specific disputes and indeed contributes to the shaping of law. Arbitrators have therefore become not only adjudicators, but transnational lawmakers. This has raised concerns over the legitimacy of international arbitration. Practising Virtue looks at international arbitration from the 'inside', with an emphasis on its transnational character. Instead of concentrating on the national and international law governing international arbitration, it focuses on those who practise international arbitration, in order to understand how it actually works, what its sources of authority are, and what demands of legitimacy it must meet. Putting those who practise arbitration into the centre of the system of international arbitration allows us to appreciate the way in which they contribute to the development of the law they apply. This book invites eminent arbitrators to reflect on the actual practice of international arbitration, and its contribution to the transnational justice system.

Most literature on international arbitration is practice-oriented, technical, and promotional. It is by arbitrators and largely for arbitrators and their clients. Outside analyses by non-participants are still very rare. This book boldly steps away from this tradition of scholarship to reflect analytically on international arbitration as a form of global governance. It thus contributes to a rapidly growing literature that describes the profound economic, legal, and political transformation in which key governance functions are increasingly exercised by a new constellation that include actors other than national public authorities. The book brings together leading scholars from law and the social sciences to assess and critically reflect on the significance and implications of international arbitration as a new locus of global private authority. The views predictably diverge. Some see the evolution of these private courts positively as a significant element of an emerging transnational private legal system that gradually evolves according to the needs of market actors without much state interference. Others fear that private courts allow transnational actors to circumvent state regulation and create an illegitimate judicial system that is driven by powerful transnational companies at the expense of collective public interests. Still others accept that these contrasting views serve as useful starting points of an analysis but are too simplistic to adequately understand the complex governance structures that international arbitration courts have been developing over the last two decades. In sum, this book offers a wide-ranging and up-to-date analytical overview of arguments in a vigorous nascent interdisciplinary debate about arbitration courts and their exercise of private governance power in the transnational realm. This debate is generating fascinating new insights into such central topics as legitimacy, constitutional order and justice beyond classical nation state institutions.