A newly published double-issue of the ICSID Review – Foreign Investment Law Journal features a remarkable collection of scholarship on the intersection of the International Law Commission’s Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (ARSIWA) and investor-State dispute settlement.

Some twenty years after their adoption in 2001, the ILC’s ARSIWA are a landmark in relation to the responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts.

The late James Crawford, Special Rapporteur for the ILC on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, served as guest editor of the special issue. The introduction to the issue—The ILC Articles on State Responsibility: More than a ‘Plank in a Shipwreck’?—is co-authored by Judge Crawford and Freya Baetens.

While the “Articles were, on any view, a collective enterprise … there is reason to accord particular credit to James for their successful completion and, in turn, for the influence that they have had subsequently in the practice of States and in the decisions of international courts and tribunals,” writes Campbell McLachlan QC, co-Editor-in-Chief of the ICSID Review, in his preface to the issue.

“There is also reason to consider that, among all of his many contributions, the conclusion of ARSIWA stands as his most enduring achievement,” he adds.

Amongst the highlights of the special issue is a comprehensive case survey of the use of the ILC Articles in investment treaty arbitration by Esmé Shirlow and Kabir Duggal, covering cases between 2010 to 2020. The article builds on a survey by Judge Crawford in 2010, published in the ICSID Review, which provides ARSIWA-references in investment treaty caselaw for the period 2001 to 2009.

The special issue also features an annotated bibliography, curated by Kiran Nasir Gore and Gloria M Alvarez, that examines important contributions to the scholarship and literature concerning the ILC Articles, organized by topic.

With over twenty articles, notes, case comments, and book reviews by scholars and practitioners, the special issue is a milestone in the literature on the ILC’s Articles and their influence on international investment law.  

The issue concludes with remarks by Pierre-Marie Dupuy on the theme of ARSIWA - a Reference Text Partially Victim of Its Own Success?

“The scholarship on the ILC Articles in this special issue of the ICSID Review is unparalleled,” said Meg Kinnear, ICSID Secretary-General and co-Editor-in-Chief of the ICSID Review. “In the twenty years since the adoption of the ILC Articles, international investment law and dispute settlement have evolved rapidly, and the ARSIWA have played an important role in the interpretation of investment obligations. This special issue provides an exceptional view into the relationship of ARSIWA and investment treaty caselaw and is an invaluable resource for practitioners and students of international law.”

The special issue is available through a subscription to the ICSID Review or as a single-issue purchase. All contributions to the special issue may also be accessed individually at the links below.

Table of Contents

Special Issue on the 20th Anniversary of ARSIWA

ICSID Review, Volume 37, Issue 1 &2

Preface                                

James Crawford AC SC FBA (1948–2021): The General Law of State Responsibility & the Specific Case of Investment Claim by Campbell McLachlan QC

Introductory Remarks                            

The ILC Articles on State Responsibility: More than a ‘Plank in a Shipwreck’? by James Crawford and Freya Baetens

Articles and Notes           

Attribution of Conduct to a State by Carlo de Stefano

Temporal Issues Relating to BIT Dispute Resolution by Sean D Murphy

State Succession and State Responsibility in the context of investor-State dispute settlement by Marcelo G Kohen and Patrick Dumberry

Post-Termination Responsibility of States? – The Impact of Amendment/Modification, Suspension and Termination of Investment Treaties on (Vested) Rights of Investors by August Reinisch and Sara Mansour Fallah

Swords, Shields and Other Beasts: The Role of Countermeasures in Investment Arbitration by Christian Tams and Eran Sthoeger

Force Majeure and International Investment Arbitration by Lu Wang and Wenhua Shan

Necessity 20 Years On: The Limits of Article 25 by Federica Paddeu and Michael Waibel

Causation and the Draft Articles on State Responsibility by Patrick W Pearsall

International State Responsibility and Internal Law in Investment Arbitration - A Hierarchy of Sorts by Hussein Haeri, Clàudia Baró Huelmo and Giacomo  Gasparotti

State Responsibility and Compliance with Provisional Measures Under ICSID by Donald McRae

Non-Compliance with Investment Arbitration Awards and State Responsibility by Anirudda Rajput

State Responsibility and Corruption in the Context of Investor-State Disputes by Natalie L Reid and Romain Zamour

Crippling Compensation in the International Law Commission and Investor-State Arbitration by Martins Paparinskis

Non-Pecuniary Remedies Revisited: Expanding Influence of the ILC Articles? by Michelle Bradfield and David Attanasio

Article 38: The Treatment of Interest in International Investment Arbitration by Christina L Beharry and Juan Pablo Hugues

Can International Investment Law Punish Investor’s Human Rights Violations? Copper Mesa, Contributory Fault and its Alternatives by Peter Muchlinski

Case Survey                                    

The ILC Articles on State Responsibility in Investment Treaty Arbitration by Esmé Shirlow and Kabir Duggal

Case Comments                            

Cairn Energy v India: Continuity in the Use of ILC Articles on State Responsibility by Prabhash Ranjan

Unión Fenosa Gas v Egypt: The Necessity Defense: Much Ado About Nothing? by Sarah Cassella

Staur Eiendom AS and others v Latvia: From Warsaw to Riga: The Role of Exceptional Circumstances in the Attribution of the Conduct of State Enterprises to the State under the ILC Articles by Csaba Kovacs

Annotated Bibliography                        

The 2001 ILC Articles on State Responsibility - An Annotated Bibliography by Kiran Nasir Gore and Gloria Alvarez

Book Reviews                                

Attribution in International Law and Arbitration by Ivan Cavdarevic

Contributory Fault and Investor Misconduct in Investment Arbitration by Emmanuel T Laryea

Concluding Remarks                               

ARSIWA: A Reference Text Partially Victim of its Own Success? by Pierre-Marie Dupuy