The settlement of international investment disputes under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT)

The article examines the issues of the settlement of international investment disputes under the Energy Charter Treaty. A brief introduction to the Treaty is given. The provisions of the Treaty, and primarily its Article 26, as well as the relevant practice of the for a constituted under the Treaty (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID); Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce; Arbitration ad hoc under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules), related to the subject matter of the article, are analyzed. In particular, the advantages of the choice of each of the aforementioned arbitration for a by the parties to disputes, as well as the issues related to the their jurisdiction ratione materiae, ratione loci, ratione personae and ratione temporis, are elucidated. Distinct attention is given to certain procedural issues: the conditions for submitting disputes to arbitration,applicable law, and rendering of arbitration awards. The important role of the Treaty as an instrument of investor-state dispute settlement in the energy sector is emphasized.

About the author: Artur S. Gulasaryan – Candidate of Sciences (PhD) in Law, Professor of the Kutafin Moscow State Law University.