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1 Tur. Com. L. Rev. Online 1 (2015)

handle is hein.journals/tuclron1 and id is 1 raw text is: 







   Procedural Requirements in Dispute Settlement

   Provisions and Application of the MFN Clause in

                  Recent Investment Disputes



                        by EDA   COSAR   DEMIRKOL*


                            I. INTRODUCTION
In 2000, the Maffezini Tribunal adopted an approach extending the application of the
Most-Favoured-Nation  (MFN)  clause in the relevant bilateral investment treaty (BIT)
to procedural rules.' Since then, the interpretation of MFN clauses in the context of
their application to dispute settlement provisions has become a complex issue, which
has been dealt uniformly by neither investment treaty tribunals nor scholars. This split
in opinion has caused discordance in investment arbitration case law that resulted in the
emergence  of three different standpoints, namely, in the words of Zachary Douglas, the
'yes' school, the 'no' school, and the 'question cannot be formulated in general terms'
school.2
     Rather than  analysing the theoretical bases underlying these approaches, this
article examines the impact of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Judgment in the
Case Concerning Application of the International Convention on the Elimination ofAll Forms of
Racial Discrimination (Georgia v Russian Federation) on the characterisation of procedural
requirements envisaged in dispute settlement provisions, such as domestic litigation,
settlement through negotiation, and waiting period requirements and the application of
MFN   clauses to these requirements. As a result of this examination, it explores whether
the conclusion reached in Georgia v Russia has created a new trend in recent investment
treaty awards. Ultimately, this article critically assesses the ICJ's approach and recent
developments in investment treaty arbitration.

                II. INTERPRETATION OF CONDITION
                  PRECEDENT IN GEORGIA VRUSSIA
In its application dated 12 August 2008, Georgia raised a claim against the Russian
Federation for the breach of the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) due to the Russian Federation's alleged actions
related to the ethnic cleansing of Georgians in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.3 Russia

    *  Eda Cosar Demirkol, LL.M (Cantab) LL.B (Bahcesehir, Istanbul). Email: cosredngmnil com.
    1  EmilioAgustin Maffezini v Kingdom of Spain, ICSID Case No. ARB/97/7, Decision on Objections to
Jurisdiction, 25 January 2000, para. 56.
    2  Z. Douglas, 'The MFN Clause in Investment Arbitration: Treaty Interpretation Off the Rails', (2010)
2(1) Journal of International Dispute Settlement 97, 98.
     3 Case Concerning Application of the International Convention on the Elimination ofall Forms ofRacial
Discrimination (Georgia v Russian Federation), Judgment on Preliminary Objections, 1 April 20 11, paras 16-17.


©020 15 TURKISH COMMERCIAL LAW REVIEW ONLINE, Vol. 1, 25 February 2015

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