Treaty Interpretation

This chapter briefly recalls the rules on interpretation (Section II) and then discusses their application by investment tribunals with regard to treaty provisions which were problematic due to their vague or imprecise content or the use of generic terms (Section III). It also examines a few instances in which investment tribunals have applied these rules in a rather peculiar fashion with a view to detecting departures from these rules and discern them from the development of new canons, principles or techniques (Section IV). Finally, it considers how States may ensure that investment treaties are given the meaning they intended to record in their texts (Sections V and VI). In line with the thrust of this volume, the chapter seeks to identify whether approaches adopted by investment tribunals have radiated, or could radiate into other fields of international law.