International Protection of Foreign Investment

This work addresses the following issues: the degree of influence of BITs on a State’s right to act in the public interest; the extent to which investment arbitration tribunals take this right into account; constraints upon the ability of states to implement policies in the areas of health care, environmental protection and employment rights; the tactics adopted by governments to balance their obligations to citizens with obligations owed to foreign investors in the BIT system; attempts by states to avoid the burden of investment treaty law as it affects their domestic policy; and the main approaches adopted by arbitration tribunals to solve the problem of the relationship between the rights of an investor and a State’s sovereign autonomy. The relevance of this work lies in the fact that one of the priorities of international affairs is to reduce tensions in the world. One of the ways to do this is to help improve interaction and interdependence between states by virtue of trade. Improving bilateral investment agreements can serve this objective. Structurally, this work, in addition to the introduction, conclusion and bibliography, includes three chapters and 18 paragraphs to achieve the goals and objectives of the study. The first chapter consists of four sections, which deal with: 1. The emergence of BITs; 2. BIT form; 3. Unjustified expectations of states related to BITs; 4. Potential solutions to the expectations of developing countries. The second chapter is fully devoted to the regulation of environmental problems in BITs. It consists of 3 paragraphs and subparagraphs to paragraphs, which include: 1. Trends in environmental regulation; 2. Ways to include environmental issues in the BIT: a) Preamble; b) General exclusions; c) Provisions on exceptions from the concept of "forced expropriation"; d) The obligation of states not to weaken their environmental standards in order to attract foreign direct investment; 3. Denunciation of international treaties: a) Ecuador; b) Bolivia; c) Venezuela. The third chapter provides a general overview of investment arbitration decisions in cases involving the actions of states to achieve a public goal. The chapter contains 4 paragraphs: 1. Environmental problems in arbitral awards; 2. Most favored nation clauses and national treatment; 3. Fair and equitable treatment; 4. The principle of proportionality.