216 PKU Transnational Law Review Vol. 2:1
© 2014 Peking University School of Transnational Law
Precedent in Investment Arbitration: The Case of
Compound Interest
Florian Grisel
nvestment arbitration is a process through which foreign
investors initiate proceedings against States in connec-
tion with governmental conducts that would have
harmed their investment. Investment arbitration has grown rapid-
ly in the past 10 to 15 years. For instance, the International Centre
for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, has seen its
caseload rapidly increases during that time period: ICSID was
created in 1966 but approximately 85% of its cases were regis-
tered after year 2000. ICSID is now the main recourse for foreign
investors against States. In 2009, in the case of Sadio Diallo v.
DRC, the International Court of Justice pointed out that ICSID
had replaced diplomatic protection as the main legal recourse for
foreign investors.
1
The recourse to investment arbitration is therefore expand-
ing and investment tribunals adjudicate an increasing number of
claims involving various kinds of investors in many geographic
places all around the world. The claims that went to investment
arbitration in the past include claims brought by the former
shareholders of Yukos against Russia for the expropriation of
their assets through taxation,
2
claims brought under the North
Florian Grisel is a Research Fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique (CNRS). His doctoral dissertation (University Paris 1 Panthéon-
Sorbonne) was awarded the 2011 Prix de Varenne for the best doctoral thesis
in Legal Theory and Philosophy of Law.
Application et création du droit en arbitrage
international (International Arbitration or Law versus Legal Order
Application and Creation of Law in International Arbitration) was published as
a book by the Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence (LGDJ) in 2011.
Florian Grisel also is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris, Université Paris 1
Panthéon-Sorbonne, Columbia University (M.P.A.) and Yale Law School
(LL.M.). He currently works on a book project on the judicialization of interna-
tional arbitration (in collaboration with Alec Stone Sweet).
1
Ahmadou Sadio Diallo (Guinea v. Dem. Rep. Congo), 2007 I.C.J. 582, ¶88
(May 24).
2
Yukos Universal Ltd. (Isle of Man. v. Russ.), PCA Case No. AA 227, Interim
Award of Jurisdiction and Admissibility (Perm. Ct. Arb. 2009), available at
http://italaw.com/do-cuments/YULvRussianFederation-InterimAward30
Nov2009.pdf.
I