GLOBAL INVESTMENTS

THE LENA GOLDFIELDS ARBITRATION

There have been attempts all along the years since the Award in Lena Goldfields, by National and International Organisations, to rectify the faults in the system which permitted states to repudiate Arbitration Awards that they had not consented to. The striking similarity between the Draft Conventions preceding the latest one by the World Bank, was that they all aimed at pinning down developing states to adhering to what the drafters considered a universal standard of justice in the treatment of private investors. This aspect has been brought out clearly in Fatouros’ brilliant survey of the draft codes on this subject, reported in 14 University of Toronto Law 7ournal (1961) p. 77.” He concludes at p 101: “Most of the draft codes are one-sided. . . They provide for the protection of the investors’ interests without attempting to safeguard the host state’s interests.”

2 E.Afr.L.J.281. Contracts between a State and a Foreign Private Company – Reflections on the Effectiveness of the Arbitration Process