Interplay Between Fair and Equitable Treatment (fet) Standard and other Investment Protection Standards

There are various constructions of the ‘Fair and Equitable Treatment’ (FET) clauses in investment treaties. Many of them have combined the FET standard with other investment protection standards in the same clause. A simplistic interpretation of these clauses might lead to an understanding that the FET standard are synonymous with other standards prescribed by the particular investment treaties largely due to the flexibility and generality of the standard. This article will closely scrutinize this interrelation between the FET standard with some other investment protection standards. The demarcation line between and among these interaction is so thin that it becomes difficult to distinguish one standard from another. This article will discuss that the FET is indeed an overarching principle and despite some conceptual similarities with other investment protection standards the FET standard is unique and distinct in its own free standing in the international investment law regime and combining the standard with other investment protection standards is simply a stylistic matter and not a matter of substance to its content.