International Decisions: Occidental Exploration and Production Company v. The Republic of Ecuador

Abstract:     
Occidental v. Ecuador is the first claim under a bilateral investment treaty claim involving tax issues. This case comment analyzes the tribunal's award and offers a critique of both the analysis and the conclusion. This comment suggests that the tribunal may have gone further than necessary in its analysis of arbitrary measures impairing investment, failed to engage in a sector-by-sector analysis of national treatment, and compressed the analysis of separate rights into one broad test for evaluating fair and equitable treatment. The comment concludes that Occidental may best be understood as confined to its unique facts lest there be larger ramifications upon global investment and foreign relations.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 8

Keywords: Bilateral investment treaties, national treatment, fair and equitable treatment, value added tax

JEL Classification: K33, K34, E62, F21, H70, H71, H77, F23, K12, N46

Accepted Paper Series