Book Review of Santiago Montt, State Liability in Investment Treaty Arbitration- Global Constitutional and Administrative Lawin the BIT Generation (Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland, Oregon 2009)

Under most investment treaties, States have waived their sovereign immunity, and have agreed to give arbitrators a comprehensive jurisdiction over what are essentially regulatory disputes. Some scholars and practitioners have expressed concern regarding the magnitude of decision-making power allocated to investment treaty tribunals. Indeed, many of the recent arbitral awards have concerned the determination of the appropriate boundary between two conflicting values: the legitimate sphere for State regulation in the pursuit of public goods on the one hand, and the protection of foreign private property from State interference on the other. State Liability in Investment Treaty Arbitration contributes to the current understanding of international investment arbitration as a form of global governance, providing some valuable insights into the tension between democratic demands and foreign direct investment.