Review: In the era of globalization, international trade relations are an integral part of the economy of majority of the countries, including the Russian Federation. Increase of the role of entrepreneurship in the sphere of foreign trade entails escalated disputes. This article reviews the theoretical aspects of law enforcement practice on the disputes associated with foreign trade entrepreneurial activity. Analysis is conducted on legal regulation of foreign trade entrepreneurial activity, as well as Russian case law in the corresponding sphere, namely disputes considered in arbitration court, and theoretical research on the matter. Methodological framework is comprised of the general scientific and private scientific methods of cognition (dialectical, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, comparative-legal, and historical-legal). The author concludes on the lack of uniformity in the approaches used by arbitration courts towards determining the law applicable to transboundary agreements. The creation of uniform case law on the controversial issues requires taking into account the existing law enforcement practice, as well as unifying them based on accumulated experience. For example, in the Russian Federation this process could be facilitated through corresponding clarifications on the level of resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with explanations on the key contentious issues pertaining to the disputes in foreign trade entrepreneurial activity. The presented materials can be used in further consideration of disputes in the sphere of foreign trade entrepreneurship, as well as in providing explanations of law enforcement practice.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, arbitration, judicial practice, customs authorities, economic sanctions, tariff and non-tariff regulation measures, economic measures, foreign trade activities, foreign economic contracts, application of law

Review: Determination of the existence of subject-matter jurisdiction is of practical importance for the entire dispute settlement process by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which was created for protection of the rights of foreign investors. The subject-matter jurisdiction of ICSID is conditioned by existence of an “investment”. Determination of existence of an investment in each particular dispute is attributed to the exclusive competence of the arbitral tribunal itself, since the concept of “investment” is not disclosed in the text of the Washington Convention. The authors assess the key features of the activity that is recognized as investment, used by the arbitrators conducting qualification of one or another transaction to establish whether or not they fall under requirements of the Article 25 of the Washington Convention. Special attention is turned to the methodology and practice of application of the aforementioned criteria. It is noted that in each criteria, the arbitrators determine their own structure. Detailed analysis is carried out on the issues of subject-matter jurisdiction in the decisions of ICSID , beginning with the Fedex case, in which the need to use objective criteria in determination of ICSID jurisdiction without their interpretation is pointed for the first time; and Salini case, in which the arbitrators disclosed the content of these criteria, as well as subsequent decisions that illustrated different approaches of the arbitrators towards interpreting the Salini test. The conclusion is made that despite the fact that the criteria used in modern arbitration practice developed in the Salini case do not possess regulatory characteristics, their presence allows making objective distinction between the investments protected on the level of international agreements and regular commercial transactions. The Salini test provides potential investors with the opportunity to assess risks prior to starting investment activity on the territory of a foreign country, as well as protect the parties to the investment relations from abuse.

Keywords: definition of investment, double keyhole approach, competence-competence principle, subject-matter jurisdiction, Salini Test, ICSID, investment arbitration, foreign investments, investment dispute, ICSID Convention