The Journal of

WORLD INVESTMENT

ABSTRACTS 

The 9th Geneva Global Arbitration Forum—Settling Disputes on a Shrinking Planet
 4–5 December 2002, Geneva, Switzerland

Edited transcripts of several of the presentations made at the 9th Geneva Global Arbitration Forum are published in this issue. Topics include:
 -     So You Want to Become an Arbitrator—A Roadmap
        Serge Lazareff, Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce's Institute of World Business Law, Paris
        Grigore Florescu, Professor of Commercial Law, University of Bucharest, Romania
        Pierre A. Karrer, Partner, Pestalozzi Lachenal Patry, Zurich and Geneva
        Amazu A. Asouzu, Lecturer in Law, Kings College London

-     Why Lawyers Only?—Engineers, Merchants and other "Men of the Trade" as Arbitrators
        Pierre M. Genton, Pmg Ingénieurs-Economistes-Conseils, Lausanne, Switzerland
        Michael Chapman, Biologist, Interarb, Culoz, France
        Jean-Claude Najar, General Counsel and Director of Government Relations, GE Oil and Gas, Florence, Italy

-     Arbitrating in the Public Eye and under Duress—The New Paradigms for the Global Arbitrator
        Bernardo M. Cremades, B. Cremades y Asociados, Madrid, Spain
        Kaj Hobér, Mannheimer Swartling, Stockholm, Sweden
        Giorgio Sacerdoti, Professor of International and European Law, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy; and Member of the Wto's Appellate Body
        Stanimir A. Alexandrov, Sidley Austin Brown & Wood Llp, Washington, D.C.; and former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria

-     Methods for Settling Boundary Disputes—Escaping from the Fetters of Zero-Sum Outcomes
        Thomas Wälde, Jean Monnet Professor of European Energy Law and Economics, University of Dundee, Scotland. Annexed to this
        presentation is an additional paper, not presented at the Forum: Offshore Delimitation of Resource Deposits Situated across National
        Boundaries: The Icj Decision in Cameroon v. Nigeria—Lending Clarity or Compromise? by Adaeze Ifesi, LL.B. LL.M., and a recent
        graduate of the Centre for Energy Petroleum Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee, Scotland

Abdel Hamid El Ahdab: Guarantee of Investments and Amendment of the Lebanese Law on Arbitration

International commercial arbitration has increasing become an important means for resolving international disputes by independent, non-governmental individuals. Difficulties often arise, however, in the case of investment disputes between States and foreign investors. Administrative courts are usually reluctant to relinquish their competence in favour of arbitrators, leading to confusion in the resolution of these disputes and the enforceability of related arbitral awards. In this context, the Lebanese legislature, following the examples of France and Egypt, has amended the Lebanese law governing arbitration and permitted the State to submit disputes related to administrative contracts with foreign investors to international arbitration. The present article provides a summary of the legal evolution leading to the amendment of the Lebanese law and a description of the elements of that amendment.

Abdel Hamid El Ahdab holds an LL.D. from the University of Paris, France, and is an attorney-at-law in Paris and Beirut, Lebanon. He is also President of the Arab Association for International Arbitration and Secretary-General of the Euro-Arab Association for International Arbitration.

Georgios I. Zekos: Finance and Investment in Globalization

Globalization is a complex legal and social process that takes place within an integrated whole, without regard to national boundaries. Moreover, it is characterized by a strong growth in trade in goods and services and a strong expansion in capital flows. Firms may serve foreign markets by export or by opening plants to provide local production. Multinational enterprises now play an important role in the global economy and are frequently able to slice their production chain internationally. At the same time, international short-term financial flows have expanded rapidly since the abandonment of fixed exchange rates and capital controls in the 1970s. Flows of direct investment towards developing countries increased seven-fold between 1990 and 2000, although they have been heavily concentrated in a limited number of countries and make up less than one-fifth of global flows.

Georgios I. Zekos hold degrees of J.D., LL.M. and Ph.D., and is an attorney-at-law and economist in Komotini, Greece.

Jacques Werner: Some Comments on the Nafta Chapter 11 Case Adf Group Inc. and United States of America

The Final Award in the case of Adf Group Inc. and United States of America was delivered by the Icsid Tribunal on 9 January 2003. The present article comments critically on a number of points in that Award, including determination of the place of arbitration (hardly a neutral location), the ruling on the Tribunal's jurisdiction to decide the investor's Article 1103 claim (showing a highly sensible flexibility), the ruling on national treatment (not entirely satisfactory in the economic context, but perhaps understandable given the claimant's failure to put forward relevant economic evidence), and, perhaps most interesting, the Tribunal's conservative position on the Nafta Free Trade Commission's Interpretation of 31 July 2001 and its careful avoidance of providing a definition of the content of a "minimum standard of treatment under customary international law".

Jacques Werner is the publisher and editor of The Journal of World Investment and The Journal of World Intellectual Property, Geneva, Switzerland.

Document:
In the Matter of an Arbitration under Chapter Eleven of the North American Free Trade Agreement between Adf Group Inc. and United States of America
Icsid Case No. Arb(AF)/00/1
Award

The text reproduced here contains the full Table of Contents but only part of the Award, viz., Sections i–iii (paras. 1–59) and Sections v–vi (paras. 126–200).