Private international law is often considered and antiquated and formalistic methodology, not particularly relevant for international commercial arbitration. Actually, private international law – in all three its components: conflicts of jurisdiction, conflict of laws and recognition and enforcement of decisions – is crucial to international arbitration. Almost all issues that arise in connection with an international arbitration raise the question of the law under which they are to be solved and, very often, of jurisdiction. This contribution explores the different situations that raise issues of private international law in the context of international arbitration and identifies the most commonly adopted solutions. It also explains that, particularly as regards the applicable law, the rules of private international law applicable before domestic courts are not suitable when conflict of laws issues arise before arbitral tribunals. More generally, the point is made that in many situations the conflict of laws method does not yield satisfactory solutions because, either the relevant conflict rules are not clear, or they designate a national law that often will not contain a specific solution for arbitration. In any case, the conflict of laws method may lead to uncertainty and to a fragmentation of the answers to important arbitration law problems, which is at odds with arbitration’s aspiration to be an international dispute settlement mechanism with a predictable, uniform and non-parochial solutions.

Chapter 11 introduces the main features of investor–State arbitration from a threefold perspective: historical, institutional and procedural. For the history, it examines the origin of international arbitration and then focuses in succession on the emergence and consolidation of investor–State arbitration and the growing criticism it has been facing since the turn of the last century. With regards to institutional and procedural aspects, this chapter introduces the main dispute settlement centres operating in investor–State arbitration and the main arbitration rules that can be availed of, prior to analysing the key procedural features and phases of investor–State arbitration. More specifically, it examines in detail the proceedings that lead to the deliberation and award as well as post-award proceedings and enforcement, focusing on the ICSID Convention Arbitration Rules, the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and the SCC Arbitration Rules. Attention is also paid to the main features of treaty practice, which increasingly regulates the settlement of investor–State disputes. The following chapters delve into salient aspects of these proceedings in more detail.