The Foundations of the Legitimate Expectations in International Investment Law

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 Master of International Trade Law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

A breach of the investor’s ‘Legitimate Expectations’ (which asserts that the host State should act consistently and in a stable manner) may be considered relevant when deciding upon whether or not an investment treaty obligation has been violated. This idea has been recurrently referred to by claimants in investment treaty arbitrations and has been endorsed by a growing number of arbitral awards in the last few years. However, the picture emerging out of this jurisprudence is not clear, because arbitral tribunals have provided protection for the legitimate expectations of foreign investors without justifying the basis of this protection (only with reference to the former arbitral decisions). So, considering that the doctrine of legitimate expectations has found its most popular application under the fair and equitable treatment standard, the basis of the protection of the legitimate expectations under this standard is examined in this article.

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Main Subjects


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