Legal Issues On Investment Protection In Exploiting Minerals In The International Seabed Area

Seabed mining investors are faced with a complex regulatory system,including the dual regulation of the International Seabed Authority and the sponsoring state.The International Tribunal for the law of the sea（ITLOS）has jurisdiction over the disputes between investors and the Authority,while ITLOS has no clear provisions on the disputes between investors and the sponsoring state.In this context,when there is a dispute happening between investors and the sponsoring state,how to protect the interests of investors would be a noteworthy issue,The purpose of International Investment Agreements are to protect the interests of foreign investors who invest in the host state.However,the feature of International Seabed Area is that it is located outside the jurisdiction of any country and is defined as the Common Heritage of Mankind.Apparently,it will pose a great challenge to apply International Investment Law to the investment disputes between investors and sponsoring state,especially regarding whether ICSID could have jurisdiction over this type of dispute.This paper mainly focus on whether foreign investors could put forward various investment protection claims as well as the extent of investment protection they can obtain in the event that the measures taken by the sponsoring state have adverse effects on them using normative analysis,case analysis,comparative analysis,historical analysis and other methods.This paper is divided into four parts:The first chapter sorts out the development and current situation of international seabed mining activities from the perspective of historical evolution,analyzing the existing legal framework of regulating its activities.At the level of international law,the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea and relevant documents formulated by the International Seabed Authority regulate mining activities in the International Seabed Area;at the level of domestic law,many countries have made special legislation to administer deep-sea activities,which also has an important impact on mining activities in the International Seabed Area.The second chapter will dissect the mechanism of sponsorship and the dispute settlement system in UNCLOS.In the sponsorship,whether based on UNCLOS as well as related documents,or pursuant to the domestic legislation on deep-sea mining activities,the sponsoring state has the right to rule foreign investors engaged in deep-sea mining activities.In this context,there are potential disputes between the sponsoring state and mining investors.Next it further discusses the dispute settlement issues,pointing out that the existing dispute settlement mechanism in UNCLOS does not stipulate a solution to the disputes between the sponsoring state and mining investors,which is insufficient to provide protection for foreign investors.The third chapter demonstrates whether ICSID has jurisdiction over the investment disputes between the sponsoring state and mining investors,which is also associated with the applicability of International Investment Law to international seabed mining.On the grounds of the relevant theories of International Investment Law and arbitration cases,it is proved that ICSID could have jurisdiction over the disputes between the sponsoring state and the international seabed mining investors from three aspects:qualified investment,territorial link and qualified investors.The fourth chapter primarily expounds the application of international investment protection standards,assessing the scope and extent of investment protection available to contractors under International Investment Law.This paper clarifies how International Investment Law offers protection for investors from the aspects of expropriation,fair and equitable treatment,full protection and safety,while combining the characteristics of international seabed mining investment activities.This topic involves two very important and complex parts of the International Law of the Sea,namely the International Seabed Area and the dispute settlement system of the International Law of the Sea.In the meantime,it contains jurisdiction and protection standards in the International Investment Law.This paper is not only afurther review of the above theories,but also a preliminary attempt to combine them,which has certain significance and value for theory and practice considering the prospect of seabed mining activities in the International Seabed Area.