Compensation of damage in international arbitrations (from the example of the investment arbitration)

In international arbitration, as in most legal systems, compensation of damage is a key part of dispute resolution. It is a threefold process: the arbitral tribunal decides on compensable damage, then on the extent of compensation, and finally, evaluates damage. Investment arbitration, which settles disputes between states and foreign investors - private entities - is at the crossroads between national and international law, between contractual liability and international state liability, between commercial and public law, thus covering the wide scope of issues raised by compensation of damage. The awards given in this field are often made public, allowing for an analysis of the - thoroughly consistent - solutions brought forward by arbitral tribunals. This study shows how, throughout the process of compensation of damage, questions of fact and law as well as legal and economic issues are raised. The legal requirements of certainty, foreseeability and remoteness of damage are significantly impacted by the economic context and by the notion of fairness. Conversely, the financial rules applied throughout the process of damage evaluation, without taking into account applicable law, are increasingly governed by law.