The Limitations on National
Administrative Law by Bilateral Investment
Treaties – Example of Environmental Law
The following article focuses on the relation between bilateral investment treaties
and national administrative law. Bilateral investment treaties play an important
role as they offer foreign investors the possibility to invest easily and safely
in a given country. Nonetheless, some of the basic regulations within a given BIT
may have a deteriorating effect on the application of national administrative law
to foreign investors. This article presents some of the typical regulations which
can be found in a bilateral investment treaty accompanied by an analysis of how
each one of these regulations can limit the role of national administrative law
towards foreign investors. This theoretical analysis is followed by an example of
the impact BITs have on national regulations of environmental law. The presented
approach addresses the issue of how the role of administrative law is diminishing
towards foreign investments and what practical risks are possible in the area of
environmental protection.