Investor Presentaiton
83
Clearly, in most circumstances, six months is not sufficient for a
case to run its full course. However, this period may give an
investor "a feel" for whether the judges are independent and
impartial, and whether it is worth continuing the domestic
proceedings. Some IIAS contain longer periods: for example, the
BIT between Argentina and the Republic of Korea (1994) contains
an 18-month period for settling the dispute in national courts:
"Article 8
[...]
(3) The aforementioned dispute [between an investor of one
Contracting Party and the other Contracting Party] may be
submitted to international arbitration in the following
circumstances:
(a) if one of the parties so requests, where, after a period
of eighteen (18) months has elapsed from the
moment when the dispute was submitted to the
competent tribunal of the Contracting Party in
whose territory the investment was made, the said
tribunal has not given its final decision, or where the
final decision has been made but the parties are still
in dispute;
(b) where the Contracting Party and the investor of the
other Contracting Party have so agreed." (Emphasis
added).
Neither of the cited provisions requires the claimant to go
through all levels of the judicial system or even await the decision
of the court of first instance. Indeed, at any moment after the lapse
of the set time-period, the claimant can seek redress in international
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