What Constitutes A Compensable Taking of Property? The Decisions of the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal

Abstract

It has been thirty years since the publication of Professor G. C. Christie’s well-known analysis of the state of international law on this question and ten years since the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal began to render awards on whether takings had occurred that required compensation under international law. Nearly fifty awards have included decisions on such claims, a number that constitutes a massive addition to the decisions of international tribunals on this subject. Only a few of the claims based upon alleged takings of property remain to be heard. In these circumstances, it seems appropriate to review the relevant decisions for the purpose of identifying the factors cited by the Tribunal in support of its findings that an alleged taking had or had not occurred.