CYIL 2013

PROTECTION OF INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT IN THE CONTEXT … Šturma, P., Balaš, V. Protection of international investment in the context of general international law [Ochrana mezinárodních investic v kontextu obecného mezinárodního práva] Charles University in Prague, School of Law, Prague 2013, 100 p. The monograph “Protection of international investment in the context of general international law” was written by two leading scholars of international economic law, Univ. Prof. JUDr. Pavel Šturma, Member of the UN International Law Commission, and head of senior of Charles University in Prague and Associate Professor (Doc.) JUDr. Vladimír Balaš, PhD., lawyer, member of the Department of International Law at the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague, dean emeritus of the Faculty of Law University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, for many years standing Director of the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, and arbitrator. These names alone are a guarantee that the subject of the monograph, dedicated to an important issue of protection of international investments, in general – and not only with respect to investment disputes against the Czech Republic, will be a contribution to the matter, as well as being the research project of the Department of international law on this subject in the past year. The monograph is divided into six parts: The opening section is devoted to investments and general international law; the second part deals with the sources of international investment law; the third part is devoted to the interpretation of contractual obligations in international investment disputes; the fourth part discusses the standard of treatment to investments; the fifth part is about the responsibility in international investment law with an excursion into the area of diplomatic protection as a means of protecting investments; and finally the sixth section contains the conclusions and the recommendations of the authors. The author’s reflections contained in the monograph are theoretically sound. It deals with defining the relationship of international investment law and sources of international law as generally binding norms of international law (customary), as well as with particular norms of international law. The monograph examines the correlations of international investment law with the responsibility of States for internationally unlawful conduct, in the light of responsibilities of the draft articles prepared by the International Law Commission, and also summarizes the responsibilities of States to investors, including forms and degrees of responsibility of its consequences, including the possibility of invoking diplomatic protection and bearing of the use of diplomatic protection and other means of investment protection resulting from secondary normativity in international investment law.