Private international law and international construction contract law: applicable law and jurisdiction

The article presents the findings of a comprehensive study focused on the interplay between private international law and international construction contract law in allocating applicable law and jurisdiction in cross-border construction contracts. The research subject is the legal nature of choice-of-law and procedural norms employed in international construction contracts, while the research object comprises the social relations arising in large infrastructure schemes where private and public interests overlap. The study scrutinizes doctrinal foundations of party autonomy, the integration of FIDIC applicable-law and jurisdiction clauses, the interdependence of connecting factors and admissibility criteria, and the operation of the fork-in-the-road doctrine in investor-state disputes. Particular attention is devoted to the jurisprudence of ICSID tribunals, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and UNCITRAL ad hoc tribunals, revealing convergent trends in determining governing law under Article 42 of the 1965 Washington Convention and analogous provisions. Methodologically, the work employs formal-legal analysis of arbitral rules, systematic synthesis of leading case law (including World Duty Free, Bayindir and Eurotunnel), and a comparative evaluation of Anglo-American and civil-law risk-allocation models. A mixed-methods approach ensures both doctrinal precision and practical relevance. The principal findings demonstrate a functional interdependence between selection of applicable law and forum, substantiate the need for comprehensive alignment of substantive and procedural clauses, and highlight the role of multi-tiered dispute resolution mechanisms in contract admissibility. The author’s chief contribution lies in systematizing arbitral practice on the Salini test, thereby reducing the risk of procedural duplication in parallel proceedings. The novelty of the research is the first juxtaposition in Russian scholarship of Article 42 of the Washington Convention and Article 35 of the UNCITRAL Rules where parties have made no express choice of law. The study concludes that accurately embedded FIDIC standards enhance investor protection without eroding state sovereignty, illustrating the evolving role of party autonomy as a bridge between public and private interests in the construction sector.

private international law, international construction contract law, ICCL, applicable law, jurisdiction, international arbitration, International Federation of Consulting Engineers, FIDIC, legal risks, cross-border construction projects