Rola prawa krajowego w międzynarodowych sporach inwestycyjnych

Abstract

The author of the article deals with the issue of how important the laws and regulations of the host state really are, when it comes to international investment disputes. To answer the aforementioned question, the reader is fi rst given a short introduction to the idea of foreign direct investment within international trade, along with the major legal agreements governing them. The fi rst main part of the article brings closer the notion of international investment law and tries to explain its complex nature, together with some historical context. The second and the main part is divided into smaller divisions, in order to refl ect the stages of FDI from its commencement up to a possible outcome of a legal dispute before an international arbitration tribunal, and to present how the applicability and signifi cance of the host state law changes, along with the shift of those stages. The most important deliberations on the host state law within the article consider: its complimentary character to public international law and the investment treaties, its infl uence on the issue of jurisdiction of the arbitration tribunals in international investment disputes and its applicability during the merits stage of such disputes. Another feature worth mentioning is the presentation of the new form of clauses incorporated into modern investment contracts, i.e. – the choice of law and stabilization clauses. The author based his conclusions on a vast selection of international arbitration awards and decisions, as well as the modern treaty practice of the states, by virtue of researching model BIT’s of the biggest traders in the world, e.g. Germany, China, France and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irelan.