Protected Investments and Protected Investors: The Outer Limits Of ICSID’s Reach

Abstract

There are International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) protected investments and ICSID protected investors. What this means is that not all disputes on investments can be heard by ICSID. The same can be said about investors, i.e., not all investors are entitled to be heard by ICSID tribunals. Such is the case regardless of what the State parties have agreed in the relevant international investment agreements (IAAs). This note seeks to chart the outer limits of the ICSID, the purpose being to set up the limits beyond which the investment disputes could be heard by an ICSID tribunal and the limits beyond which a person cannot submit disputes to ICSID. References made to previous awards and to relevant ICSID documents suggest that there are criteria to define the jurisdiction of an ICSID tribunal ratione materiae and criteria to define the jurisdiction of an ICSID tribunal ratione personae. Therefore, tribunals should carefully consider such criteria in order to avoid abuse to the system of international law of foreign investment.