Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Series | Part 3: Fair and Equitable Treatment

In the third instalment of the TEMPLARS ISDS Series, TEMPLARS Partner, Adewale Atake, SAN, and Managing Counsel, Orji Uka, examine the standard through that lens, the protection of legitimate expectations against executive conduct, regulatory stability against legislative change, and the prohibition of denial of justice in the courts.

They trace the debate over whether FET codifies the customary international law minimum standard or stands as an autonomous treaty obligation and show Nigeria’s own treaty practice moving decisively toward the former.

The publication then turns to Nigeria’s record, contrasting Interocean, where the conduct complained of was found not attributable to the state, with Zhongshan Fucheng, still the only case in which Nigeria has been held liable. It closes on what investors should secure and document before committing capital, and on FET as a protection equally available to Nigerian businesses investing abroad.

This is Part 3 of a five-part series. The next instalment will address Expropriation, in both its direct and indirect forms.