Consent of the parties is the basis of all arbitration. In contract-based arbitration, the consent is specific to disputes arising from the contract. It is usually expressed in the arbitration clause. In treaty-based arbitration, the consent of the state is said to be given to all present and potential investors who satisfy nationality criteria and whose investment is protected by the treaty in advance of the dispute. The rule can be so simply put. However, much dispute has arisen as to the jurisdictional criteria that have to be satisfied before an arbitral tribunal can proceed to the merits of a case. In virtually every treaty-based dispute that has arisen, the jurisdiction of the tribunal has been queried. So, it is necessary to examine the jurisdictional criteria that need to be established. Since most treaty-based arbitrations take place before ICSID tribunals,1 the rules are best stated on the basis of ICSID arbitration, which is likely to provide the standard for other types of treaty-based arbitration.

The usual cause of action in investment disputes has hitherto been the taking of property. Though, as was claimed, customary international law recognised an international minimum standard of treatment of a foreign investor, the violation of this standard outside the context of the taking of property was seldom discussed.1 The growth of such a customary law was dealt with in Chapter 3. It forms a prelude to the discussion here. That chapter dealt with the manner in which the creation of an international standard was effected and the conflicts which attended it. But, investment treaties have sought to iron out such conflicts and provide recognition of certain standards of treatment of investments as between the parties to such treaties. It is only with the spelling out of the different standards of treatment in the investment treaties that the breach of treatment standards has become a head of liability distinct from the taking of property. In more recent disputes, the failure to provide treatment according to standards prescribed in investment treaties has become important, especially in the context of Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The final chapter takes a closer look at the intersections between each of the previously covered topics, starting with sounds and structure. Readers make connections between phenomena from different linguistic domains coming together to create interesting consequences in the surface-level representations of a variety of languages. More connections are drawn between other domains, and the chapter transitions into a discussion of the scientific rigor approprate for linguistic investigation. Included in this discussion is a review of various devices used for linguistic research. The chapter concludes with an emphasis on the importance of ethical conduct in all investigations, and the ways a rigorous scientific approach can expose injustice.

It is one of the paradoxes of international law that the multinational corporations which conquered states, ruled over people, engaged in extensive international trade, founded colonies, pillaged vast riches from other peoples, committed many genocides and controlled armed forces was never subjected to international law. It is a phenomenon that international lawyers must explain. The explanation that international law was law between states and that therefore multinational corporations did not have personality to be made subject to international law, though still repeated, is a shibboleth that hardly hides the fact that this fiction enabled the hiding of colossal misconduct on the part of the powerful classes that ruled the states of Europe. There is agreement in the recent studies made of the British East India Company that it was indistinct from the ruling class of the United Kingdom. The same could be said of the Dutch East India Company, whose employee, Hugo Grotius, is celebrated as the founder of international law. Theories created by international lawyers ensured that the identities of those who profited from the misfeasances of these early multinational corporations were never revealed.

Contracts are the legal bases for the making of foreign investments. They will routinely contain arbitration clauses. Prior to ICSID, the dedicated arbitral institution for foreign investment disputes, arbitration was the frequent method of dispute settlement. Prior to 1991, ICSID dealt only with contract-based disputes. It was only after 1991, when arbitration was recognised as being possible on the basis of the dispute settlement provisions of investment treaties, that the number of treaty-based cases really increased. Still, there were contract-based cases. In some disputes, there were parallel proceedings, under the contract for breaches, and under treaties for violation of the treaty provisions. There continue to be disputes brought only on the basis of contracts

If states were in agreement as to the norms that constitute the international law of foreign investment, it would have been possible to agree on a multilateral agreement on foreign investment stating the substantive rules which apply in the area. The fact that no such multilateral agreements exist is due to the existence of conflicting approaches to the problem of foreign investment protection and the existence of contending systems relating to the treatment of foreign investment. Several attempts have been made at bringing about a comprehensive code on foreign investment,1 but they have resulted in failure simply because of the ideological rifts and clashes of interests that attend this branch of international law. Most drafts have been made with the objective of providing as much protection as is possible to foreign investment. These have been rejected by capital-importing states. The entry into the picture of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) further complicates the picture. They object to multilateral agreements which concentrate on investment protection exclusively without addressing issues relating to environmental degradation or the human rights violations associated with foreign investment.