Fair and equitable treatment principle in international investment law

The fair and equitable treatment (FET) principle is enshrined in the vast majority of bilateral and multilateral investment treaties signed between states, which are concluded on the purpose of protection and promotion of foreign investments. In particular, scope of the principle has ben enlarged with the arbitration decisions regarding investment disputes between investors and states and eventually it has been stated that legitimate expectation, transparency, good faith, prohibition of arbitrary and discriminatory of treatment, due process and prohibition of coercion should be regarded in accordance with the FET principle. The FET principle has been expressed in various forms in the investment treaties and the scope and features of the principle have been embraced in an abstract approach. Hence, exceedingly open-ended and investor-friendly nature of the principle caused investors to claim that this principle was violated in almost all investment disputes. As a result, the principle has been described as golden rule of international investment law since the principle is popular in investment treaties and arbitration proceedings, which are instruments of international investment law. The principle maintains vitality and flexibility as it is reconsidered in the emerging investment disputes and endeavored to determine its boundaries. The main aim of this study is to evaluate all aspects of the fair and equitable treatment principle, which is provided by the states unilaterally to foreign investors and one of the substantive principles of international investment law.