July 2016
Introduction
The effective means standard defined in the cases of Chevron Corporation and Texaco Petroleum Company v The Republic of Ecuador (‘Chevron’) and White Industries Australia Limited v Republic of India (‘White Industries’ )is increasingly relied upon by investors encountering inordinate delays and disconcerting confusion in the judicial system of a host state.
According to the above cases, the effective means standard would require a host State to provide foreign investors with effective means of asserting claims and enforcing rights within the territory of the host state. In the Chevron case, the effective means standard was considered lex specialis, that is an independent treaty protection for investors distinct from the denial of justice standard as defined in customary international law. Some recent cases relating to the Nigerian judicial systems may amount to a breach of the effective means standard. This article attempts to identify the effective means standard as a possible alternative available to foreign investors seeking to enforce arbitral awards in Nigeria. After a short analysis of the decisions rendered in the Chevron and White Industries cases, we will describe how these cases maybe relevant for Nigeria.
This article was published in the International Bar Association (IBA) – Construction Law International Magazine, June 2016 Issue.
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