ABSTRACT
The present chapter draws from a wider research project on shared responsibility in mixed multi-party disputes, involving States and non-state entities as claimants as well as respondents. One specific case (the Eurotunnel arbitration) is examined in terms of its ramifications on invoking, establishing and remedying State responsibility. This choice was inspired by two considerations: Eurotunnel provides a prime example of a mixed dispute likely to increasingly occur due to ever more complex joint ventures between States and non-state entities. Moreover, an analysis of Eurotunnel seemed a fitting contribution to this book as the arbitral tribunal that decided the case was presided over by the honouree of this work: Professor James Crawford. The starting point of this chapter is that, although, in principle, there is no general rule in international law allowing for joint and several responsibility, such a rule can be created by means of specific treaty provisions. The legal difficulty lies in applying and interpreting such a lex specialis rule within an appropriate procedural framework that allows for mixed disputes. This chapter is structured as follows: after setting out the facts, background and legal claims of Eurotunnel (section I), the Partial Award is analysed (section II) so as to identify the relevance of this case for future shared responsibility disputes between mixed parties (section III).
