Good Faith in Exception Clauses: An Abus de Bonne Foi?

Development summary

In an article published in the Netherlands International Law Review, Christian Riffel considers how exception clauses shape the balance between investor rights and regulatory freedom in international investment law. Taking the Seda ruling as its point of reference, the article asks whether subjecting a self-judging exception clause to good-faith review imposes an additional unwritten constraint on States’ discretion and how this relates to abus de droit; it distinguishes express exclusion, express incorporation and an implied good-faith requirement.