“Cooling-off Period” Clauses in Investment Treaties

Вестник международного коммерческого арбитража. 2021. Vol. 22-23. No. 1-2. P. 24–33.

Kaysin D., Urmantseva A.

So-called “cooling-off period” clauses are frequently included in international investment treaties.
Being an example of an escalation clause, they are designed to conciliate conflicting parties prior to
recourse to international arbitration. The wording of such clauses is not identical and arbitral tribunals
interpret them differently.
The authors study the nature of these clauses and the consequences of not-complying with their
conditions, including jurisdictional and admissibility objections. Based on various examples, the
authors analyze when the “cooling-off period” starts, how the notice of dispute should be drafted and
to whom it should be addressed. The article also answers the question of whether a shorter “coolingoff
period” can be incorporated into parties’ relations from another investment treaty.
The article stresses that although there is a trend favoring the procedural nature of “cooling-off
period” clauses, investment arbitration case law on this issue is not uniform. New investment treaties
regulate the “cooling-off period” issues in a more detailed manner.

Keywords: примирение, jurisdiction, юрисдикция, conciliation, admissibility, приемлемость, международный инвестиционный арбитраж, bilateral investment treaties, разрешение споров, international investment arbitration, Dispute Resolution, двусторонние инвестиционные соглашения, cooling-off period, notice of dispute, initiation of arbitration, доарбитражный период урегулирования, период охлаждения, уведомление о споре, возбуждение арбитражного разбирательства