Justin Malbon előadása

Az előadás rövid összefoglalója:
Over 2,000 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are presently in force worldwide. Hungary is a party to over 20 BITs.
BITs often contain a dispute resolution section that entitles a relevant investor to take arbitration proceedings against a government party if the investor believes the government expropriated its investment. Expropriation can be direct (eg by nationalisation of the investment) or indirect (eg by the operation of environmental protection laws that reduce the value of the investment).
There are ongoing debates about the utility and impact of BITs. For instance, whether they encourage foreign investment into a party’s nation, and whether BITs have a chilling effect on legislative progress and reform, including for health and environmental purposes.
Setting those debates to one side for the present, Professor Malbon will draw attention to the (arguably) excessive awards of damages that are increasingly being made by tribunals dealing with investor-state arbitrations. For instance, there are more than 50 decisions in which a tribunal awarded the investor over $US 100 million, and eight in which the award exceeded $US 1 billion. The awards often far exceed the sums the investor actually invested, and heavily compensate for lost future opportunity. The awards are for most practical purposes unappealable, leading in part to inconsistent and unpredictable outcomes.
Large awards typically arise in relation to mining and extraction investments. Often the alleged (indirect) expropriation relates to the introduction and operation of environmental protection laws.
Prof Malbon will discuss the reasons why tribunals make such large awards and possible steps that can be taken to ensure more balanced and reasonable outcomes in the future.

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További információ az együttműködéssel kapcsolatban elérhető a tanszék oldalán, illetve bármilyen kérdéssel kérjük, keressék Erdős Istvánt (erdosistvan@ajk.elte.hu).