The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in Investor-State Disputes: History, Evolution and Future

'The Committee selected Esmé Shirlow and Kiran Nasir Gore, eds., The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in Investor-State Disputes: History, Evolution and Future (Wolters Kluwer, 2022). This book provides an authoritative – indeed, the authoritative – guide to the role of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in the resolution of disputes between states and foreign investors. Its twenty-eight contributors provide a highly diverse range of perspectives from scholars and practitioners active in the field. They address issues arising at every stage from the creation to the termination of investment treaties, with especially detailed attention to important questions of interpretation and to emerging challenges. The chapters are uniformly remarkable for their depth, clarity, and readability. Worthy of special note are the editors’ introductions not only to the book as a whole, but also to each part of the volume, which frame the contributions and integrate them into a lively conversation with one another in a way that could be a model for many other edited works. All in all, the book provides an extraordinarily rich and engaging exploration of the issues at the intersection of investor-state disputes and the law of treaties.'

- 2024 ASIL Book Prize: COMMITTEE RATIONALE

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT FOR HIGH TECHNICAL CRAFTSMANSHIP AND UTILITY TO PRACTICING LAWYERS AND SCHOLARS

'As the role of the VCLT increases in the context of investment law and ISDS, those interested in the topic will find in this work a useful collection of exceptional writings, which review the use and relevance of the VCLT thus far, and explore the future of the VCLT in light of the inherent changes to come, and in particular the proposed reforms of UNCITRAL Working Group III. Without question, the book is a proper celebration of the VCLT's golden jubilee.'

- Dr. Crina Baltag - American Review of International Arbitration (4-2023)

'The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in Investor-State Disputes is must-read. It fully achieves its goal to “bring into the spotlight the central role that the VCLT has played in the resolution of investment disputes and to highlight how it might be effectively invoked into the future’’ a brilliant addition to the literature on international law.'

- Maria Fanou

‘This book will be of great use to both counsel and adjudicators in investment treaty disputes, as it is the first to comprehensively engage with how the VCLT applies in investment disputes. It walks the reader through the most important issues that routinely arise in investment arbitrations, including interpretation, temporal application and termination of investment treaties. The book provides examples from other adjudicative regimes, helping investor-State tribunals to contextualize their practice and find solutions to novel issues. The book also offers useful contributions on the complex treaty law issues that come up when reforming investment treaties and dispute settlement. No doubt that States and all others involved in the ISDS reform will also find it a most valuable tool.’

- Professor Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, International Arbitrator

‘This is a fascinating collection of insightful contributions on major issues of treaty law, as codified in the VCLT, that have arisen in investor-state arbitration. Indispensable read for investment lawyers interested in general international law as well as for public international lawyers interested in seeing treaty law in action.’

- Professor August Reinisch, University of Vienna

‘This book is nothing short of a must-have for scholars and practitioners interested in investor-State dispute resolution. It provides a holistic and detailed analysis of all relevant aspects concerning the creation, interpretation, application and termination of investment treaties. In an impressive tour de force, the editors and contributors have created a reference on the VCLT that is both practice-oriented and intellectually stimulating.’

- Professor Dr. Maxi Scherer, Queen Mary University of London and Special Counsel, WilmerHale

‘Amongst the excellent practical, theoretical, and academic works published each year in the field of international arbitration, occasionally a book comes along that is a “must have” for practitioners, arbitrators, academics and government lawyers. Shirlow and Gore’s well-organized, detailed and comprehensive study of the principles and practical applications of the VCLT is one such book. Treaties memorialize established and desired norms, imposing obligations on subjects of international law that are their creators and signatories. But the objectives intended by a treaty’s framers and the words used to reflect those objectives often take on different meaning over the passage of time and in different cultural, linguistic and political contexts. Shirlow and Gore’s book provides lucid analyses and pragmatic insights on the life and afterlife of investment treaties, including their creation, interpretation, termination, and reform.  It is an invaluable reference work that will allow counsel to put forward smarter arguments, arbitrators to write better decisions, and States to make well-informed decisions.’

- Arif Hyder Ali, Partner and Co-Chair of International Arbitration and Public International Law Group, Dechert LLP

‘In celebration of the overarching importance of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties - the “treaty on treaties” - Dr. Shirlow and Professor Gore have assembled in this volume contributions by some 30 writers providing expert analyses of treaty law issues that regularly arise before and are resolved by tribunals in investor-State arbitrations, including notably issues of treaty interpretation under provisions of the Vienna Convention. Each of the four main sections of the book features a chapter by Dr. Shirlow and Professor Gore with incisive summary and commentary. An appendix by Dr. Shirlow contains a very useful table recording references to the Vienna Convention in over 360 decisions and awards of investor-State arbitral tribunals. Policymakers, scholars, and legal practitioners will find this book to be an enlightening read and valuable resource.’

- Antonio R. Parra, former Legal Adviser and Deputy Secretary-General, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

‘This book is an especially valuable contribution to thinking about the role of the VCLT in modern investment law. Dr. Shirlow and Professor Gore have focused on the nexus of the VCLT, international investment law, and investment arbitration, providing a unique perspective on the use of the VCLT to resolve investment treaty disputes. The large and growing body of these arbitrations and their use of the VCLT over the past decades make this book especially persuasive. The editors and contributors have curated a superb collection that is educational and thought-provoking, and I have no doubt that readers will find this book extremely useful. This volume is the perfect way to celebrate the first half-century of the VCLT: a review of what it has done and an informed assessment of what it may yet do in the next half century.’

- Meg Kinnear, Secretary-General, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (from the Book’s foreword)

‘This collection of essays on the interplay between the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and investment law and dispute settlement provides important material for reflection for all those engaged in reform of the investor-state dispute settlement system. It investigates the past, present and future role of the Vienna Convention in interpreting investment treaties and addresses the place of the Convention in ongoing reform efforts. The book should be read by academics and government officials working in the current system and reflecting on how it can be improved.’

- Colin Brown, Head of Unit, European Commission Directorate General for Trade, Legal Aspects of Trade and Sustainable Development and Investment