APPLICABILITY TO DISPUTE SETTLEMENT OF MOST FAVOURED NATION CLAUSES IN INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS
Downloads
Abstract
Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clauses in International Investment Agreements (IIAs) play an important role in promoting fairness and non-discrimination among foreign investors. MFN clauses oblige the host state to treat investors of one state no less favorably than it treats investors of any other state. These clauses are becoming increasingly common in international investment agreements and are often found in the dispute settlement provisions of such agreements. In this article, we will discuss the applicability of MFN clauses to dispute settlement in IIAs.
The purpose of MFN clauses in IIAs is to ensure that foreign investors receive the same treatment as investors from other countries. This means that if a host state provides a certain level of protection or treatment to investors from one state, it must also provide the same level of protection or treatment to investors from any other state that is a party to the IIA. This principle of non-discrimination is designed to ensure that foreign investors are not subject to arbitrary or discriminatory treatment.
In the context of dispute settlement, MFN clauses are used to extend the benefits of one IIA to another. For example, if a host state has agreed to provide a certain level of protection to investors from one state in one IIA, and then subsequently signs another IIA with a different state that offers greater protection, the MFN clause in the second IIA may be used to extend the higher level of protection to the investors of the first state.
External References to this Article
Loading reference data...
License Terms
Ownership and Licensing:
Authors of research papers submitted to any journal published by The Law Brigade Publishers retain the copyright of their work while granting the journal specific rights. Authors maintain ownership of the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication. Simultaneously, authors agree to license their research papers under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) License.
License Permissions:
Under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License, others are permitted to share and adapt the work, even for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate attribution is given to the authors, and acknowledgment is made of the initial publication by The Law Brigade Publishers. This license encourages the broad dissemination and reuse of research papers while ensuring that the original work is properly credited.
Additional Distribution Arrangements:
Authors are free to enter into separate, non-exclusive contractual arrangements for distributing the published version of the work (e.g., posting it to institutional repositories or publishing it in books), provided that the original publication by The Law Brigade Publishers is acknowledged.
Online Posting:
Authors are encouraged to share their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on personal websites) both prior to submission and after publication. This practice can facilitate productive exchanges and increase the visibility and citation of the work.
Responsibility and Liability:
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submitted research papers do not infringe on the copyright, privacy, or other rights of third parties. The Law Brigade Publishers disclaims any liability for any copyright infringement or violation of third-party rights within the submitted research papers.
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright © 2026 by Aastha Prasad
The copyright and license terms mentioned on this page take precedence over any other license terms mentioned on the article full text PDF or any other material associated with the article.
