7 Scope of Application of Investment Treaties

Subject(s):

BITs (Bilateral Investment Treaties) — Treaties, scope (temporal and territorial) — Arbitral tribunals — Investment — Investor — Specialized treaty frameworks

This chapter first discusses the significance of a treaty’s scope of application, which has at least two important legal ramifications. First, a contracting state owes obligations under the treaty only to investors and investments that fall within the treaty’s scope of application or treaty definitions. Second, the treaty’s definitions and scope of application affect the jurisdiction of any international arbitral tribunal adjudicating a dispute brought under its provisions. The chapter then goes on to explain the meaning of the terms ‘investments’ and ‘investors’ as covered by investment treaties and gives an overview of the various types of formulation used to define those terms.