I. Definition
Consent is the cornerstone of jurisdiction of international courts and tribunals,1 including investor-State arbitration tribunals.2 3 Some investor-State tribunals set out consent as a condition of a so-called jurisdiction ratione voluntatis.4
Consent must be clear and unequivocal,5 and the burden of establishing consent lies primarily with the Claimant.6
II. Basis of consent
Consent to arbitration may result from a direct agreement to bring before an arbitral tribunal either future disputes arising from the investment operation (compromissory clause)9 or an existing dispute (compromis), although the latter option is rare in investor-State arbitration.10 Most investment claims have been submitted on the basis of a host State’s general offer to arbitrate which may occur in the following ways:
Consent to arbitration is to be interpreted in good faith.15 Once perfected, consent becomes irrevocable.16 17
III. Scope of consent
The host State’s offer to arbitrate may be limited to certain types of disputes.
Dispute resolution clauses indicate the available fora before which investment claims may be brought.
IV. Procedural requirements before the State's consent
Arbitration clauses may subject the possibility for the investor to institute arbitration proceedings upon satisfaction of several preliminary procedural requirements, which are usually as follows: waiting periods for amicable settlement (cooling-off periods) or submission of the dispute to local courts in the host State within a certain period of time, often between six to eighteen months (also see exhaustion of local remedies).
V. Investor's consent to counterclaims
Unless the applicable dispute resolution clause limits the access to arbitration to claims arising out of the host State’s obligations,31 the acceptance of the State’s offer to arbitrate by the investor does not exclude counterclaims.32
Bibliography
Amerasinghe, C.F., Jurisdiction ratione personae under the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of other States, British Yearbook of International Law, 1975, pp. 227-267.
Amerasinghe, C.F., Jurisdiction of International Tribunals, 2002.
Broches, A., The Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States, Recueil des Cours de l’Académie de droit international (RCADI), 1972, pp. 331-410.
Douglas, Z., The International Law of Investment Claims, 2009.
Fitzmaurice, Sir G., The Law and Procedure of the International Court of Justice, 1986.
Kaufmann-Kohler, G., Interpretation of Treaties: How do Arbitral Tribunals Interpret Dispute Settlement Provisions Embodied in Investment Treaties?, in Mistelis, L.A., and Lew, J.D.M. (eds.), Pervasive Problems in International Arbitration, 2006, pp. 257-275.
Lamm, C.B., Jurisdiction of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, ICSID Review - Foreign Investment Law Journal, 1991, pp. 462-483.
Lalive, P., Some Objections to Jurisdiction in Investor-State Arbitration, in van den Berg, A.J. (ed.), International Commercial Arbitration: Important Contemporary Questions, 2003, pp. 376-391.
Paulsson, J., Arbitration Without Privity, ICSID Review - Foreign Investment Law Journal, 1995, pp. 232-257.
Schreuer, C., Consent to Arbitration, in Muchlinski, P., and Others (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of International Investment Law, 2009, pp. 830-867.
Schreuer, C., and Others, The ICSID Convention: a Commentary, 2nd ed., 2009.
Stern, B., Le consentement à l’arbitrage CIRDI en matière d’investissement international : que disent les travaux préparatoires ?, in Mélanges, P.K, Souveraineté étatique et marchés internationaux à la fin du 20ème siècle, 2000, pp. 223-244.
Zeiler, G., Jurisdiction, competence, and admissibility of claims in ICSID arbitration proceedings, in Binder, C., and Others. (eds.), International Investment Law for the 21st Century: Essays in Honour of Christoph Schreuer, 2009, pp. 76-91.
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