The problem of the jurisdictional effect of most-favoured nation clauses: a view from the context of systemic values of international investment law

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The Decision of the Tribunal from January 25, 2000, in Maffezini v. Spain has become a starting point for developing inconsistent case-law in the area of investment disputes settlement concerning the jurisdictional effects of most-favoured nation clauses contained in bilateral investment treaties. This inconsistency has developed into one of the most debatable issues in the area of settling international investment disputes. The present article is based on a resort to the systemic values of International Investment Law as a guide that can help participants of the debate to leave the circle of a retrospective exchange of arguments. It is argued that taking these values into consideration should correspond to the modern context of the discussion, which is different from that which existed at the birth and crystallization of the controversy. A change in the context is characterised by coexistence of several school of thoughts on the issue under consideration, by evolution of the MFN-based jurisdictional approach into a significant part of the case-law in investment arbitration, as well as by development of states’ feedback towards inconsistencies in the area. The article contains a short overview of different approaches taken in the practice of investment arbitration and explains significance and relevance of taking the systemic values of International Investment Law into consideration. As a result of addressing the problem of jurisdictional effects of most-favored nation clauses in the context of such systemic values of International Investment Law as legal certainty, the attractiveness of participation in international investment relationships, the potential to solve and to develop general issues, and the neutrality in investor-state disputes settlement, it is argued that none of these values speaks against recognizing the jurisdictional significance of these clauses.

About the author: Dmitry Krasikov – Candidate of Sciences (Ph.D.) in Law, Head of International Law Department, Saratov State Law Academy, Saratov, Russia.

Citation: Krasikov D. (2018) Problema yurisdiktsionnogo effekta ogovorki o naibol’­shem blagopriyatstvovanii: vzglyad v kontekste sistemnykh tsennostey mezhdunarodnogo investitsionnogo prava [The problem of the jurisdictional effect of most-favored nation clauses: a view from the context of systemic values of international investment law]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, no.1, pp.100–111. (In Russian).

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