From Klockner to Total: The assertion of the applicability of the sources of international law in International Foreign Investment arbitrations

Abstract

This article analyzes the applicability of the sources of international law and the principles of law in international investment arbitration, through the notorious change in point of view of the ICSID foreign investment panels, in matters of applicable law, with a special period of change between 2000 and 2010 between the Wena Hotels (2000-2002) and Total (2010) awards, a trend which extends to the present , in which ICSID arbitral proceedings have increasingly decided to apply to investor-State disputes the different sources of public international law and the general principles of law, both in original proceedings and in annulment proceedings, despite the private instrument. The article analyzes the possibility of applying international law as the main controlling rule in ICSID proceedings, the application by ICSID arbitral tribunals of both international customary law regarding international responsibility of the State, the application of international law principles to give content to the substantive protections to investors and to the reparations granted by the awards.