The Relevance of the UNIDROIT Principles in Investment Arbitration

19(4) Uniform Law Review 570, November 10, 2014

39 Pages Posted: 17 Dec 2015 Last revised: 19 Dec 2015

See all articles by Giuditta Cordero-Moss

Giuditta Cordero-Moss

University of Oslo - Department of Private Law

Daniel Behn

Queen Mary University of London; PluriCourts University of Oslo

Date Written: September 1, 2014

Abstract

This article aims at ascertaining the role and relevance of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) in investment arbitration. The PICC are ‘a non-legislative codification or “restatement” of the law of international commercial contracts in general’ produced by a group of independent academics and experts representing all of the major legal systems of the world. The PICC are assumed to be particularly apt to be used as applicable law in international commercial disputes that are to be solved by arbitration, as opposed to national courts of law. A sub-set of these international arbitrations arise in the context of investment disputes; and while many of the rules governing the applicable law to this sub-set are similar to commercial arbitration, there are also key distinctions. This article will look specifically at the sources that regulate which law is applicable in investment arbitration in general. An analysis of these sources will show that, to varying degrees, investment arbitration is open to the application of sources such as ‘rules of law’ and international law, independently or in combination with national law (which under certain circumstances can include the PICC). Using a comprehensives set of investment arbitration cases referencing the PICC, this article will assess to what extent the PICC have been or may be used as ‘rules of law’ that govern the dispute, as a source of international law, as corroboration of international law, as corroboration of national law or as a correction of national law.

Keywords: UNIDROIT, Investment Arbitration

Suggested Citation

Cordero-Moss, Giuditta and Behn, Daniel, The Relevance of the UNIDROIT Principles in Investment Arbitration (September 1, 2014). 19(4) Uniform Law Review 570, November 10, 2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2704308

Giuditta Cordero-Moss

University of Oslo - Department of Private Law ( email )

Karl Johansgt 47
N-0162, Oslo
Norway

Daniel Behn (Contact Author)

Queen Mary University of London ( email )

67-69 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London, WC2A 3JB
United Kingdom
+44 03791 085569 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://bit.ly/qmul-behn

PluriCourts University of Oslo ( email )

PO Box 6706
St Olavs Plass 5
Oslo, 0130
Norway
+44 03791 085569 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://bit.ly/pluricourts-behn

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