Investor-State Dispute Settlement and International Investment Agreements The Case of the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States Routledge Research in International Economic Law Series

This book examines the international investment agreements and the dispute settlement mechanisms contained therein, which bind the Gulf Cooperation Council member States.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, is complex and unique. Recently, all member States have experienced increasing investor?state arbitration claims, while their nationals are increasingly instituting investor?state arbitrations to protect their own foreign investments. Intra-GCC disputes, though relatively rare, have also appeared, largely as a result of the recent Gulf crisis. While focussing particularly upon the investor?state dispute settlement experience of member States as respondents, the book also explores the experiences of their nationals as claimants to determine how they can approach investor? state dispute settlement in the future. The book also reflects on existing treaty-making practices, making recommendations for regional-level dispute settlement to improve upon investor?state dispute settlement outcomes.

This book provides a detailed analysis of the global investor?state dispute settlement regime and international investment agreements, and it will be of interest to students, academics, and practitioners with an interest in international investment law and arbitration.

List of Figures viii

List of Tables ix

Preface x

1 Introduction: Investor–State Dispute Settlement and the GCC Member State Experience 1

2 The GCC Member States and Their International Arbitration Frameworks 19

3 Elements and Emerging Themes in Investor–State Arbitration in the GCC Context 42

4 The GCC Member States as Respondents in ISDS Arbitrations 79

5 The GCC Member States as Home States of Claimants in ISDS Arbitrations 124

6 Intra-GCC Investor–State Arbitrations and Divergence in Approaches 166

7 Domestic Investment Protection and Promotion Legislative and Regulatory Frameworks in the GCC 192

8 ISDS, Islamic Law-Based Investment Agreements and Islamic Finance Principles 228

9 Reflections and Recommendations 252

Index 271



David Price is Emeritus Professor, Public International Law and Intellectual Property Law, School of Law, Charles Darwin University, Australia. His primary research area is the intersection of public international law, international trade agreements, and intellectual property law. This work has extended to the settlement of disputes encompassing the application of investor–state dispute settlement causes and outcomes. He has published extensively in these areas, focussing upon the GCC, ASEAN, Indonesia, and Australia as exemplars. David has worked, consulted, and researched in institutions in Australia, Indonesia, the UK, Europe, and the Middle East, and held visiting professorships in Indonesia and China.

Amelia Hallam is a research associate with the School of Law, Charles Darwin University, Australia. She has been admitted as a legal practitioner in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. In 2020 Amy completed her PhD on investor–state dispute settlement at Charles Darwin University, with Emeritus Professor David Price. Amy has an active research interest in investor–state arbitration and the Gulf, having presented at the Gulf Research Council’s International Meetings in the UK, and subsequently published. Amy has also published on ISDS provisions in Gulf free trade agreements, and new knowledge societies and economic development in the GCC.

Contributing author:

Nadia Naim is an Associate Dean of International Law and Social Sciences and a Senior Lecturer in Law at Aston University. She is a qualified barrister and a fellow of the HEA. She has published many scholarly articles in the areas of international intellectual property law, intangible asset financing and development, comparative law, and international law. She has authored books in the intellectual property field and specialises in emerging areas of intellectual property development. Her most recent publication is Islamic Legal Principles and Intellectual Property