This article scrutinizes the investment chapters in the new EU Free Trade Agreements from a transparency perspective. The article examines the claims that the dispute settlement mechanisms in the new treaties are sufficiently participatory and more transparent than their predecessors. Procedural standards related to confidentiality of proceedings shall be analysed in the context of existing transparency safeguards in investment arbitration. In addition to procedural guarantees of transparency, the article examines relevant substantive rules affecting participatory aspects of dispute settlement. Furthermore, the article discusses forum-shopping strategies of the parties in the field of investment-related disputes, including internal forum-shopping and parallel proceedings using different procedural mechanisms. In this context, lessons from other fields such as international commercial arbitration related to transparency (in cases in which public interest is present) are highlighted. The proposal for the establishment of an integrated, multilateral court for investment cases is also invoked.

Characterization of carotid atherosclerotic plaque morphology by sonography has shown great potential to increase the amount of diagnostic information traditionally gathered with routine carotid Doppler examinations. Sonographic imaging has shown the ability to visualize plaque directly and quantify certain features such as surface morphology, plaque geometry, and echotexture, using two-dimensional (2D) gray-scale B-mode imaging. Improved methods are being investigated to identify potential markers of high-risk plaques, in the hope of identifying specific imaging parameters to help describe a patient's overall vascular risk. These modalities include the use of high-resolution sonography using newer high-frequency probes and volumetric threedimensional (3D) imaging. Studies have reported that 3D sonography used as a complementary imaging technique may provide additional information in the evaluation and risk stratification of vulnerable carotid plaque beyond traditional 2D imaging. [1][2][3][4][5] Carotid 2D and 3D plaque imaging is emerging as the predominant approach in identifying and evaluating the progression of carotid atheromas. 1 To our knowledge, no published studies have measured the interobserver analysis of various plaque pathologies and assess the value of 3D sonography, in addition to the routinely used 2D plaque imaging. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of advanced sonographic plaque 531853J DMXXX10.

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This chapter discusses creative aspects of legal interpretation and the practice of adjudicatory activism in international commercial arbitration. It analyses cases in which arbitrators arrive at their decisions by reaching beyond the letter of the applicable law while acting either within the limits of their discretion or by exceeding them. In particular, it focuses on situations in which such activity leads to an expression, formulation, and consolidation of formerly unspecified rules. The chapter critically revisits dynamic theories of legal interpretation (formulated primarily in the context of litigation before the domestic courts), and examines their applicability to arbitration, in a form adjusted to specific demands of arbitral decision-making. It further examines particularities of interpretative practice in international commercial arbitration, related to application of the lex mercatoria principles, to amiable composition, and to public order considerations.

The linguistic turn in twentieth century’s philosophy, as well as pragmatist trends in contemporary linguistic research, have significantly changed the theory of legal interpretation. The emergence of new streams within social and cultural studies, pointing to the importance of the context of any interpretive event, has also significantly influenced the approaches, methods, and imagery of legal interpretation. This chapter examines how the linguistic turn has in recent years affected the theory and practice of international law and international courts and tribunals, in particular in terms of a departure from the predominantly positivist interpretive tradition. This gradual change is associated with new types of challenges for adjudicators that the intensifying globalization processes in law have created. Besides the judicial activism and the dynamic interpretation style that have turned international adjudicators into writers rather than readers of the law, globalization has also affected the practice of legal interpretation in other ways. This chapter demonstrates how acting across a multiplicity of languages and legal traditions, comparative law, legal translation, and multilingual interpretation have become necessary elements in the interpretive practice of international courts and tribunals.