Kulick: About the Order of Cart and Horse, Among Others – Estoppel in the Jurisprudence of International Investment Arbitration Tribunals

Andreas Kulick (Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen - Law) has posted About the Order of Cart and Horse, Among Others – Estoppel in the Jurisprudence of International Investment Arbitration Tribunals (European Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

A quantitative and qualitative study of international investment arbitration case law employing the concept of estoppel reveals investment tribunals’ inconsistency with regard to its requirements. This contribution discusses possible reasons why tribunals often deviate from what appears to be the established view in the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice (‘ICJ’) and in international law scholarship and why they do not explain their preference for the one or the other view. In fact, the often striking lack of reasoning in this regard begs the question as to the order of approach chosen and outcome produced. In the interest of doctrinal and jurisprudential consistency, arbitrators should be more transparent as to their choice of view and as to the reasons for choosing it over another one. This will sharpen the concept of estoppel both in international investment law in particular and in public international law in general.