CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

ONDŘEJ SVOBODA CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ would supply the currently missing enforcement safeguards for declaratory relief and specific performance (p. 121). However, the award of a two-state remedy is possible only if a claimant- investor requests it. Such a situation is not common in investment disputes. In Chapter 5 Sattorova deals with the structure of the investment treaty regime and its implications for domestic governance. In her view, any system that lacks transparency, coherence, and fairness cannot effectively uphold rule of law standards. For instance, in the author’s view, one demonstrative example of the system’s failures is the existence of bribery. However, bribery is in fact in the majority of cases the reason for tribunals to reject investor’s claim and States increasingly address this issue in the text of their new investment treaties as well. Therefore, this argument does not seem too persuasive, in comparison to other arguments that Sattorova offers. Finally, Chapter 6 looks at the openness of international investment law to different interests and actors. It is claimed that the regime’s lack of democracy, accountability, and open dialogue as well as its domination of a narrow pool of arbitrators from developed countries create grave obstacles to good governance. In her conclusion, Sattorova does not directly answer her question posed at the beginning of the book, but that is not the goal of her work. For Sattorova, her book “aims to facilitate a more informed understanding of present contours and the nature of the interplay between international norms and national realities” (p. 11). The study leads subtly to a conclusion that investment treaties are an ineffective tool to improve good governance standards and serious doubts whether Host State’s compliance with good governance standards for foreign investors can result in good governance at all. However, Sattorova primely invites a reader to critically think of the widespread good governance narrative. At times, the book makes a mixed impression on a reader. Its scope is in some instances too broad, discussing a great number of issues. At the same time, some of the elements put on the table are only superficially elaborated and some omitted entirely, although their consideration could enrich the debate. 1 For example, in Chapter 2 “such and such” is mentioned without explanation what “such and such” is. On the scope of the book, the author notes that “the choice of questions addressed [...] has been inspired by the finding from our empirical case studies” (p. 16). Nevertheless, this self-imposed limitation may be detrimental to the overall ambition of the book. The book’s narrow focus only on developing countries could also be a missed opportunity. The increasing number of investment disputes between foreign investors and developed countries 2 could be an ideal topic for comparative research and it would offer a new angle on the topic. Case studies of the frequently sued developed states like Spain, Canada, or the Czech Republic 3 could be a valuable addition to the book’s comparative part. Similarly, it seems that the focus of the book – the rule of law and good governance – would deserve more elaboration, including the conceptual approaches from different regimes 1 See e.g. PAZARTZIS, P., GAVOUNELI, M. (eds.), Reconceptualising the Rule of Law in Global Governance, Resources, Investment and Trade , Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2016, where topics such as abuse of rights in modern international investment arbitration or legitimate countermeasures are thoroughly examined. 2 DE MESTRAL, A. (ed.), Second Thoughts: Investor-State Arbitration between Developed Democracies , Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, CIGI Press 2017. 3 For a couple of studies on Czech investment policy see FECÁK, T., Czech Experience with Bilateral Investment Treaties: Somewhat Bitter Taste of Investment Protection, C zech Yearbook of Public and Private International Law , Vol. 2, 2011; SVOBODA, O., Nová vzorová dohoda ČR o podpoře a ochraně investic: Progresivní, nebo konzervativní? [New Czech Model Agreement on Investment Promotion and Protection: Progressive or Conservative?], Právní rozhledy , Vol. 25, No. 21, 2017.

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