Many investment host-states, invoking the spread of the coronavirus and the need to deal with Covid-19, have taken over the assets of private companies, forced them to make certain goods, intervened in their pricing, stopped their products, prevented export of their products and forced some to close their activities. In some cases, host-states may in fact expropriate the foreign investments for political, social, and economic reasons, such as reducing social pressures, increasing the possibility of success in elections, and acquiring low-cost, profitable investments, but invoke the need to combat the pandemics in order to mislead the arbitral tribunals. Since the host state have frequently sought to justify non-compliance with their treaty obligations by resorting to crises such as the outbreak of Covid-19, this article, referring to the investment treaties, doctrine and arbitration practices, and in order to strike a balance between interests of the investor and the host-state, in the first part, discusses the possibility, manner and arguments for filing a claim for expropriation by foreign investors by invoking the host-state measures in the situation of outbreak of pandemics including Covid-19, and in the second part, investigates the means of compensation for expropriation in the above-mentioned claims.
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Biloune and Marine Drive Complex Ltd v. Ghana Investments Centre and the Government of Ghana, Ad hoc Arbitration, UNCITRAL, Award on Jurisdiction and Liability, (1989).
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Enron Corporation and Ponderosa Assets, L.P. v. Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/01/3, Award, (2007).
Impregilo S.p.A. v. Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/07/17, Award, (2011).
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References In Persian:
A) Books
Askari, P. (2015). The Law of Foreign Investment in International Arbitration Practice. Tehran: Shahre Danesh Publcations (In Persian).
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Piran, H. (2016). The Law of International Investment. Tehran: Ganje Danesh Publications (In Persian).
B) Articles
Alidousti Shahraki, N. (2012). The Respect of Property and Foreign Investment. Private Law Studies Journal, 41(1) (In Persian).
Bagheri, M., & Meihamy, M. (2016). Analysis of existing theories in determining indirect expropriation and its developments regarding investment in energy sector. Journal of Researches Energy Law Studies, 2(2) (In Persian).
Habibzadeh, T., & Nikjah, J. (2015). The Criteria Governing the Compensation of Moral Damages in Relations between the Host State and the Foreign Investor with Emphasis on ICSID Arbitral Awards. International Law Review Journal, 31(51) (In Persian).
Laya joneydi, Sadegh teimoori, Mohammad saghri, Reza abbasian (2018). Indirect Exproprition of Foreign Investors, An Investigation to Iran & International Law. Private Law Journal, 6(24) (In Persian).
Shahbazian,A . (2024). Compensation for Foreign Investors in Expropriation Claims Arising from Pandemics with Particular Attention to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Public Law Studies Quarterly, 54(2), 1303-1320. doi: 10.22059/jplsq.2021.329625.2871
MLA
Shahbazian,A . "Compensation for Foreign Investors in Expropriation Claims Arising from Pandemics with Particular Attention to the Covid-19 Pandemic", Public Law Studies Quarterly, 54, 2, 2024, 1303-1320. doi: 10.22059/jplsq.2021.329625.2871
HARVARD
Shahbazian A. (2024). 'Compensation for Foreign Investors in Expropriation Claims Arising from Pandemics with Particular Attention to the Covid-19 Pandemic', Public Law Studies Quarterly, 54(2), pp. 1303-1320. doi: 10.22059/jplsq.2021.329625.2871
CHICAGO
A Shahbazian, "Compensation for Foreign Investors in Expropriation Claims Arising from Pandemics with Particular Attention to the Covid-19 Pandemic," Public Law Studies Quarterly, 54 2 (2024): 1303-1320, doi: 10.22059/jplsq.2021.329625.2871
VANCOUVER
Shahbazian A. Compensation for Foreign Investors in Expropriation Claims Arising from Pandemics with Particular Attention to the Covid-19 Pandemic. PLSQ. 2024;54(2):1303-1320 (In Persian). doi: 10.22059/jplsq.2021.329625.2871