The use of standard contracts by major companies assumes undeniable importance today. The decision of the Appeal Court of Lisbon of 29 April 2004 considered that "the contractual clauses on the verse of the page of the contract where the signatures appear will not be excluded, if it is not...

This paper argues that the UNCITRAL is in a privileged position to lead an effort — along with other international organizations, public and private stakeholders — to conduct a thorough analysis of the challenges raised by the growing interaction between international investment treaties and...

Over the last three years the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) has been devoting significant attention to the issue of concurrent proceedings in international arbitration. The problem basically arises when one arbitration is initiated in relation to a certain...

Investor-state arbitration was created with the hope of depoliticizing investment disputes. However, the adoption of the traditional party-appointment system, in which disputing parties play a direct role in the composition of the tribunal, is increasingly criticized. Many believe that party...

Over the last decades, investment arbitrators have emerged as a professional class and become an object of study in their own right. This epistemic community is frequently described as small and close-knit. At its centre stands a nucleus of repeat arbitrators whose radiation is particularly...