Eric De Brabandere receives grant to create an investment treaty arbitration database
Prof.dr. Eric De Brabandere from the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies has received a grant from the Municipality of the Hague to create an investment treaty arbitration database.
International investment arbitration is settled in the majority of cases by institutional arbitration rather than ad hoc arbitration. These institutions are responsible for the administration of the proceedings, but often also have an important influence on the procedure, not only through the role they fulfill as 'administering institution' but also through these arbitration rules that are ipso facto applicable by the choice of a certain institution. Examples of elements where the choice of the institution and the rules of arbitration are of fundamental importance are the rules concerning the appointment of arbitrators, decisions on possible conflicts of interest of arbitrators, and the costs of the procedure.
There are important differences between the institutions, and the competition between the institutions is becoming more important over the years, particularly given the significant increase in the number of investment disputes settled through arbitration over the past decade. Because the choice of the institution is fundamental for both the conduct of the procedure and the ultimate legitimacy of the arbitral award, a comparative insight into procedural and institutional rules, and how they are applied in practice, is important. This project aims to set up an institutional and procedural database of the arbitration institutions and the applicable arbitration rules.