ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the evolving field of international investment treaty arbitration and focuses on the growth in the number of bilateral investment treaties. It examines the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States of 1965 and the establishment of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The chapter then details the nature of the rights commonly provided by investment treaties, and the features of arbitration conducted under the auspices of ICSID. Subsequent to the signing of the Convention, states began to conclude bilateral investment treaties containing “standing offers” to submit disputes arising out of an investment made by a national of the other state party, to ICSID or other binding international arbitration. Another development in the field of investment treaty arbitration is the advent of the Multilateral Investment Treaty. An investment protection treaty is concluded between states in order to provide protection to nationals of each state.
