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States facing claims under international investment treaties and concession agreements have repeatedly managed to defeat foreign investors’ claims for expropriation or other international law violations by alleging that the investments at issue were obtained through corruption. There is of course no question that corruption is a global scourge antithetical to the international rule of law and that international investment law should not reward corrupt conduct. That said, the “corruption defense,” as currently developed in international investment law, presents a number of difficulties that international investors and practitioners should keep in mind when considering their rights under international investment treaties and similar instruments.
