Part III Investment Disputes and Political Risk, 10 Intervention of States in Investment Disputes

Subject(s):

Economic sanctions — Foreign Direct Investment — Investor — Host state law — Claims

This chapter discusses the actions that States may take to obtain redress against other States at whose hands their citizens are mistreated. Where no investment treaty binds home and host States, and where no other instrument offers the jurisdictional foundation for investor–State arbitration, a foreign investor may have no other remedy but to appeal to his government for assistance. A State’s intervention on behalf of its citizens may take several forms, ranging from informal diplomatic discussions to formal adversarial proceedings before ad hoc or standing international tribunals. The remainder of the chapter covers the “espousal” of claims, claims before international tribunals, economic sanctions, invalidation of title, prohibitions against the use of force, and the Foreign Claims Settlement Act of the United States.