The master's thesis presents the legal regulation of the general legal principle pacta sunt servanda and the institute of changed circumstances in different national legal orders and in international law, as well as the distinction between changed circumstances and force majeure. The master’s thesis further highlights the problem of different regulations of changed circumstances and related legal consequences in national legal orders for international investment relationships and international investment dispute settlement. The master’s thesis discusses the different solutions in relation to changed circumstances offered by case law of the courts and international arbitral tribunals and highlights the advantages of contractual regulation of changed circumstances and of the inclusion of adjustment mechanisms in international investment agreements, which allow the parties in international investment relationships to avoid uncertainty and the potential negative consequences of applying the applicable law to the investment agreement. The master’s thesis further highlights the dilemmas of contractual renegotiation clauses or agreement adjustment clauses by a neutral third party (judge or arbitrator) as a consequence of changed circumstances. Finally, the master’s thesis concludes that, notwithstanding the importance of the general legal principle of pacta sunt servanda, its weight can always be mitigated by changed circumstances, however, the conditions for the application of the institute of changed circumstances in international investment relationships are subject to a particularly strict and narrow interpretation.
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