CORRESPONDENCE
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1978.tb00789.x |
| Date | 01 January 1978 |
| Published date | 01 January 1978 |
1
20
THE MODERN LAW REVIEW
[VoL
41
Human Rights and in some
30
pages writes a superb summary of the history
of
international protection from Pre-Second World War to
1975.
It is here
that his conciseness and clearness come to terms with his restraint and the
fetters of the
book’s
format. This lecture should be read by any student of
international, law who wishes to find out briefly what has happened in the
mid-twentieth century to the human rights movement.
R.
BEDDARD.
CORRESPONDENCE
THE
EDITOR,
THE
MODERN LAW
REVIEW
23
September
1977
Dear Sir,
Referring to the exchange
of
correspondence on the Choice
of
Law
Pro-
visions in Concessions and Related Contracts
(1977)
40
M.L.R.
440,
your
readers may find it helpful to bear in mind the provisions of Article
42
(1)
of
the World Bank sponsored Convention on the Settlement
of
Investment Dis-
putes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID), which reads
as
follows:
“The [Arbitral] Tribunal shall decide
a
dispute
in
accordance with such
rules
of law
as
may
be
agreed by the parties. In the absence of such
agreement, the Tribunal shall apply the law of the Contracting State
party to the dispute (including its rules on the conflict of laws) and such
rules of international law as may
be
applicable.”
I
read this provision
as
one which would uphold the efficiency of the con-
tractual limitation
on
the applicability
of
the law of Atlantis as agreed to by
the parties. Therefore,
an
agreement containing an TCSID jurisdictional clause
would clearly permit the Tribunal to exclude any invalidating legislation
of
the host country
as
must have
been
contemplated by the parties when the
agreement was negotiated.
As
is
well known, many investment agreements have been concluded, incor-
porating ICSID jurisdictional clauses since the Convention first entered into
force on October
14, 1966.
A
more recent development is the increasing number of bilateral treaties
for
the protection and promotion
of
foreign investments, and also the enact-
ment
of
several investment laws of host countries which provide for the
acceptance of ICSID jurisdiction
as
a
means
of
settling disputes.
As
of
September
1,
1977, 73
States had signed the Convention, and
68
States
had adopted instruments of ratification. Yours truly,
DAVID M. SASSOON
Procurement Advisor,
Legal Department,
The
World
Bank.
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