Vig, Zoltan; Hajdu, Gabor --- "SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO" [2019] ELECD 2748; in Nagy, Csongor (ed), "Investment Arbitration in Central and Eastern Europe" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 413

Book Title: Investment Arbitration in Central and Eastern Europe

Editor(s): Nagy, Csongor

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 12

Section Title: SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

Author(s): Víg, Zoltán; Hajdu, Gábor

Number of pages: 25

Abstract/Description:

The Chapter on investment arbitration in the Slovak Republic follows the common structure of all presented jurisdictions. Firstly, we reflect on the policy and treaty landscape of investment arbitration in the Slovak Republic. We notice a very positive position of the State towards investment arbitration, acknowledging the advantages of the investor-State dispute settlement framework. This is supported by the fact that the Slovak Republic is a signatory to fifty bilateral investment treaties, diverse international treaties as well as the Energy Charter Treaty and many investment related instruments, including the GATT Agreement and the subsequent WTO and GATS Agreements. Secondly, we provide an overview of the existing domestic legal framework in regard to the investor-State arbitration, including rules on recognition and enforcement, as well as reviewing specific provisions of the Slovak Model Bilateral Investment Treaty on (a) standard of treatment, (b) expropriation and (c) national treatment and most favored nation treatment. The substantial part of this chapter focuses on the existing case law, as we have reviewed and analyzed 12 investment arbitration disputes. Several of these disputes have been globally discussed and have reached attention of many arbitration scholars and practitioners. A thorough discussion is dedicated to Achmea cases that have reached the Court of Justice of the European Union and contain the highly disputed matter of the compatibility of BITs provisions with the EU law. In addition to reviewing factual and legal issues of the cases, we focus on providing historical and political background and additional information, which are essential for the contextual understanding of these cases. We conclude our chapter with various reflections on social and economic context of investment arbitration and its current perception in the Slovak Republic.