Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 155 / 1997 Coll.
Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the negotiation of the Agreement between the Czech Republic and the Republic of Croatia on the promotion and mutual protection of investments
Valid
International Treaty
Effective from 15.05.1997
Text versions:
10.07.1997
155
COMMUNICATION
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the Agreement between the Czech Republic and the Republic of Croatia on the promotion and mutual protection of investments was signed in Zagreb on 5 March 1996.
The Parliament of the Czech Republic agreed to the Agreement and the President of the Republic ratified it.
The Agreement entered into force on 15 May 1997 pursuant to Article 13 thereof.
The Czech version of the Agreement is hereby published at the same time. The English version of the Agreement, which is relevant for its interpretation, can be consulted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.
AGREEMENT
between the Czech Republic and the Republic of Croatia on the promotion and mutual protection of investment
the Czech Republic and the Republic of Croatia, hereinafter referred to as "the Contracting Parties',
led by the desire to intensify economic cooperation to the mutual benefit of both States,
Desiring to create and maintain favourable conditions for investment by investors of one Contracting Party in the territory of the other Contracting Party,
recognising the need to promote and protect foreign investment in order to stimulate the economic prosperity of both Parties,
agree on the following:
Definitions
For the purposes of this Agreement:
1. The term "investor" shall mean any natural or legal person investing in the territory of the other Contracting Party.
(a) The term "natural person" shall mean any natural person having citizenship of one of the Contracting Parties in accordance with its legal order.
(b) The term "legal person" means, in respect of both Contracting Parties, any company registered or established in accordance with its law and recognised by its law as a legal person having its registered office in the territory of one Contracting Party.
2. The term "investment" refers to any asset value invested in accordance with economic activities by an investor of one Contracting Party in the territory of the other Contracting Party in accordance with the law of the other Contracting Party and includes in particular, but not exclusively:
(a) movable and immovable property, any other property rights and rights in rem, such as mortgages, mortgages, guarantees and similar rights;
(b) shares, bonds, unsecured bonds or any other form of participation in companies;
(c) cash claims or claims on any performance having an economic value associated with the investment;
(d) intellectual property rights, including copyright, trademark rights, patents, industrial designs, technical procedures, know-how, business secrets, business names and goodwill, associated with investment;
(e) rights arising from a law or contractual arrangement, licence or licence issued under the law, including concessions for exploration, extraction, cultivation or exploitation of natural resources and rights granted by official authorities to carry out economic activities.
3. Any change in the form of an investment permitted in accordance with the laws of the Contracting Party in whose territory the investment has been made shall not affect its nature as an investment.
4. The term "income 'means the amounts resulting from the investment and includes in particular, but not exclusively, profits, interest, capital gains, shares, dividends, royalties, fees and other current income.
5. The term "territory" means:
- in respect of the Czech Republic, the territory over which the Czech Republic exercises its sovereignty, sovereignty and jurisdiction in accordance with international law;
- in relation to the Republic of Croatia, the territory and the coastal zone, including the seabed and subsoil, adjacent to the external territorial sea over which the Republic of Croatia exercises its sovereignty, sovereignty and jurisdiction in accordance with international law.
Support and admission of investments
1. Each Contracting Party shall support, within its territory, the investment of investors of the other Contracting Party and shall recognise such investment in accordance with its legislation.
2. Where a Contracting Party authorises an investment in its territory, it shall, in the context of such investment and in accordance with its legislation, provide the necessary authorisations related to such investment and the implementation of licensing agreements and technical, commercial and administrative assistance contracts.
National treatment and most favoured nation clause
1. Each Contracting Party shall grant on its territory investment and investors' returns to the other Contracting Party treatment which is sound and fair and not less favourable than that accorded to its own investors' investments or to the investors' investments and returns of any third State, if more favourable.
2. Each Contracting Party shall, in its territory, grant to investors of the other Contracting Party, treatment which is fair and fair and not less favourable than that accorded to its own investors or to investors of any third State, if it is more favourable.
3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not be construed as obliging one Contracting Party to grant to investors of the other Contracting Party such treatment, benefits or privileges as may be granted by the first Contracting Party pursuant to:
(a) the customs union or free trade zone or monetary union or similar international agreements which lead to such Union or institutions or other forms of regional cooperation, the Contracting Party of which is or may become a member;
(b) international agreements or arrangements relating wholly or principally to taxation.
Expropriation
1. No Contracting Party shall take, directly or indirectly, measures leading to expropriation, nationalisation or any other measure having the same character or similar effect against investments belonging to investors of the other Party, except where such measures are taken in the public interest, on a non-discriminatory basis and under the law, provided that the measures are accompanied by immediate, effective and proportionate compensation. Such compensation shall be equal to the market value of the expropriated investment immediately before the expropriation or before the intended expropriation has become known to the public, shall include interest from the expropriation date to the payment date and shall be freely transferable.
2. The amount of the refund shall be fixed in convertible and freely transferable currency and paid without delay to the person entitled. The transfer shall be deemed to have taken place without delay if it is carried out at such a time as is normally required for the completion of the formalities relating to the transfer. That period shall start running from the date on which the application is submitted and shall not exceed three months.
3. The investor concerned shall have the right to request an urgent review of his case by a judicial or other independent body of the Contracting Party in whose territory the investment was made and to evaluate his investment in accordance with the principles contained in this Article.
4. The provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall also apply to cases in which a contracting party expropriates the assets of a company which is established or registered in accordance with the law applicable to any part of its territory and in which the investors of the other Contracting Party own shares.
Compensation for damage
1. Where investment by investors of one or other Contracting Party suffers damage in the territory of the other Contracting Party as a result of war or other armed conflict, exceptional condition, riot, insurrection or revolt, that Contracting Party shall provide them with treatment no less favourable than that provided by that Contracting Party to its own investors or to investors of any third State. The resulting payments, whenever possible, shall be transferable without delay, in convertible and freely transferable currency.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1 of this Article, investors of one Contracting Party who, at the events referred to in the preceding paragraph, have suffered damage within the territory of the other Contracting Party shall:
(a) seizure of their property by the armed forces or by the official authorities of the other Contracting Party;
(b) destruction of their property by the armed forces or by the official authorities of the other Contracting Party, which was not caused by combat actions or was not caused by the necessity of the situation;
a fair and reasonable compensation for damage suffered during the occupation or destruction of the property. The resulting payments shall be freely transferable in freely convertible currency without delay.
Transfers
1. Each Contracting Party within the territory of which the investors of the other Contracting Party have been made shall ensure the free transfer of payments related to such investments, in particular:
(a) capital and additional amounts necessary to maintain or increase the investment;
(b) income, profits, interest, dividends and other current income;
(c) the amounts for repayment of loans duly agreed and supported and directly linked to a particular investment;
(d) royalties or other charges;
(e) the proceeds of the total or partial liquidation of the investment;
(f) the refunds referred to in Article 4;
(g) the income of nationals of one Contracting Party who are permitted to work in conjunction with an investment in the territory of the other Contracting Party in accordance with its legislation.
2. Transfers shall be made without any limitation and undue delay in freely convertible currency at the prevailing conversion rate applicable at the transfer date, unless otherwise agreed.
Transfer of rights
1. Where one Contracting Party or its authorised Agency makes a payment to its own investor under the guarantee it has provided in relation to an investment in the territory of the other Contracting Party, the other Contracting Party shall recognise:
(a) the transfer of any right or claim of an investor to a Contracting Party or to an agency authorised by it, whether by law or by legal arrangement in that country, and
(b) that the original Contracting Party or the agency authorised by it is entitled, by way of transfer of rights, to exercise the rights and rights of that investor and to assume the obligations relating to the investment.
2. The transferred rights or rights shall not exceed the original rights or rights of the investor.
Settlement of investment disputes between a Party and an investor of the other Party
(1) Disputes between the Contracting Party and the investor of the other Contracting Party shall be notified in writing by the investor, including detailed information, to the host Contracting Party. Any dispute between the Contracting Party and the investor of the other Contracting Party shall be resolved by friendly consultations and diplomatic negotiations.
2. Where such disputes cannot be settled in such a manner within six months of the date of the written notification referred to in paragraph 1, the dispute shall be submitted at the choice of the investors either:
- an ad hoc arbitration panel established under the arbitration rules of the United Nations International Trade Law Commission; or
- the International Investment Dispute Settlement Centre (ICSID) established by the "Convention on the Resolution of Investment Disputes between States and citizens of other States."
3. The arbitration finding will be based on
- the provisions of this Agreement;
- the legal order of the Contracting Party in whose territory the investment is carried out, including conflict of laws;
- standards and generally accepted principles of international law.
4. The decision of the arbitration panel shall be final and binding on both parties in the dispute.
Dispute settlement between Contracting Parties
1. Disputes between the Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall be dealt with by consultations or by diplomatic channels.
2. If the Parties fail to reach an agreement within six months of the opening of the dispute between them, the dispute shall be submitted at the request of one of the Parties to an arbitration panel which shall be established as follows: Each Party shall designate one arbitrator and the two arbitrators shall appoint a President who shall be a citizen of a third State having diplomatic relations with the two Parties.
3. Where one of the Contracting Parties has not appointed an arbitrator and has not, at the request of the other Contracting Party, done so within two months, the arbitrator shall be appointed by the President of the International Court of Justice at the request of that Contracting Party.
4. If the two arbitrators disagree in the election of the President within two months of their appointment, the President of the International Court of Justice shall, at the request of one of the Contracting Parties, appoint the President.
5. If, in the cases referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article, the President of the International Court of Justice is unable to perform this function, or if he is a citizen of one of the Contracting Parties, the appointment shall be made by the Vice-President, and if even the Vice-President cannot carry out this appointment, or if he is a citizen of a Contracting Party, the appointment shall be made by the oldest Judge of the International Court of Justice, who is not a citizen of any Contracting Party.
6. The arbitration panel shall determine its own rules of procedure, taking into account the reservations made by the Parties. The arbitration panel shall take its decisions by a majority vote.
7. The decision of the arbitration panel shall be final and binding on both Parties.
8. Each Contracting Party shall bear the costs of its own member of the arbitration panel and of its participation in the arbitration procedure. The President's costs and other expenditure shall be reimbursed equally by the Contracting Party. However, the arbitration panel may decide that a greater part of the costs shall be paid by one of the Contracting Parties and this decision shall be binding on both Contracting Parties.
More favourable provisions
Where the legal order of the Contracting Parties or the current obligations under international law or obligations established at a later date between the Contracting Parties in addition to this Agreement contains an adjustment of general or specific which entitles investors of the other Contracting Party to invest in treatment which is more favourable than that provided under this Agreement, such a more favourable arrangement shall take precedence over the provisions of this Agreement.
Consultation and exchange of information
At the request of a Contracting Party, the other Contracting Party shall agree to immediate consultations on the interpretation or implementation of this Agreement. Information on legislation, decisions, usual administrative procedures or practices or policies of the other Party which may have an impact on investments covered by this Agreement shall be exchanged at the request of the Contracting Party.
Application of this Agreement
The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to future investments made by investors of one Contracting Party in the territory of the other Contracting Party as well as to investments existing in accordance with its legislation in force at the date of entry into force of this Agreement.
Entry into force
This Agreement shall enter into force at a later date on which one of the Contracting Parties notifies the other Party in writing that its national legal requirements necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement have been complied with.
Duration and termination
1. This Agreement shall remain in force for a period of 10 years and shall continue to apply unless one year before the end of the initial period or any subsequent period, one Contracting Party notifies the other Contracting Party in writing of its intention to terminate the Agreement.
2. For investments made before the date on which the notification of termination of this Agreement becomes effective, the provisions of this Agreement shall continue to be effective for a period of 10 years from the date of expiry of this Agreement.
To prove the signature, duly authorised, they signed this agreement.
Dane in Zagreb on 5 March 1996 in duplicate in the Czech, Croatian and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In the event of a discrepancy in interpretation, the English text is decisive.
For the Czech Republic:
Václav Klaus v. r.
Prime Minister
For the Republic of Croatia:
Zlatko Mateša v. r.
Prime Minister
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Regulation Information
| Citation | Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 155 / 1997 Coll., on the negotiation of the Agreement between the Czech Republic and the Republic of Croatia on the promotion and mutual protection of investments |
|---|---|
| Regulation Type | International Treaty |
| Author | - |
| Collection | Code of Laws |
| Date of Promulgation | 10.07.1997 |
|---|---|
| Effective from | 15.05.1997 |
| Effective until | - |
| Status | Valid |
Legal Areas:
International law
International public law
The regulation text is for informational purposes only.
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