Marc GALVIN
International investment law is one of the fastest growing areas of
international law. It has led to the signing of thousands of agreements, mostly
in the form of investment contracts and bilateral investment treaties. Also, in
the last two decades, there has been an exponential growth in the number of
disputes being resolved by investment arbitration tribunals. Yet the legal
principles at the basis of international investment law and arbitration remain
in a state of flux. Perhaps the best illustration of this phenomenon is the
wide disagreement among investment tribunals on some of the core concepts
underpinning the regime, such as investment, property, regulatory powers, scope
of jurisdiction, applicable law, or the interactions with other areas of
international law.