Draft convention on investments abroad (Abs-Shawcross draft convention)

International Arbitration | 18 April 2018

Draft convention on investments abroad* (Abs-Shawcross draft convention)

Proposals for the negotiation of a multilateral agreement to protect private foreign investment have been made from time to time since the end of the First World War. One of the most significant early efforts was launched by groups of European business people, and lawyers, under the leadership of Hermann Abs, Chairperson of the Deutsche Bank in Germany, and Lord Shawcross, former Attorney-General of the United Kingdom. The initiative began in 1957 when the Society to Advance the Protection of Foreign Investments, an organizationof German business people, with headquarters in Cologne, published a draft instrument entitled International Convention for the Mutual Protection of’ Private Property Rights in Foreign Countries. That version was subsequently revised and, in April 1959, a Draft Convention on Investments Abroad was issued. The Draft Convention, which was under consideration by the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, was not adopted. The Draft Convention was accompanied by a commentary by the authors. The commentary has not been included in this volume.

Read the text here (pdf)

* Source: Abs, Herman and Hartley Shawcross (1960). "Draft Convention on Investments Abroad", in "The proposed convention to protect private foreign investment: a round table", Journal of Public Law (presently Emory Law Journal), vol. 1, Spring 1960, pp. 115-118.