Legal Security in International Investment Contracts

Abstract

Legal security is a basic principle and a goal that various comparative legislations aspire to achieve, such as the Algerian legislation, which was included for the first time in the 2020 constitution, with its importance in protecting people and protecting their rights and ensuring their stability and enjoy them in the light of respect for the law. This is what the investor seeks to achieve within the framework of the international investment contracts he concludes with the countries hosting his investments. This is done through a set of mechanisms or clauses that are included in these contracts in negotiation with these countries, so as to ensure the legal security of him and his investment from the various risks that he may be exposed to, when the state implements its sovereign powers over its territory and the actions that take place therein. By studying these mechanisms, we find that they play a major role in achieving the legal security of foreign investment and the contracting investor, in particular those covered by these clauses, especially when restricting the state’s authorities to the necessity of negotiating and agreeing with the investor about any amendments or changes in the legal system governing these contracts, or about the clauses and the conditions it contains, and holds it responsible for any breach or violation of its obligations and commitments, and this is what constitutes a safety valve for the foreign investor and his investments and makes him safe from any political danger.