16 The Consequences of Treaty Violations

Subject(s):

Treaty provisions — BITs (Bilateral Investment Treaties) — ECT (Energy Charter Treaty) — Arbitral tribunals — Customary international law

This chapter examines the consequences of treaty violations for states and the remedies available to an investment when a host state fails to provide the treatment it has promised. It first considers the fact that most investment treaties do not specifically state the consequences of a state’s breach of treaty provisions. However, on issues not specifically covered by treaty, all investment treaties authorize tribunals to apply customary international law in making decisions, including determining compensation for investments affected by the breach of treaty provisions. The chapter then discusses the application of customary international law on state responsibility and investment treaty remedies in general, citing the Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in particular. Finally there is a discussion of valuation techniques used to determine the amount of damages.due to injured investors.