The Cross-Fertilisation of International Investment Law and International Humanitarian Law: Prospects and Pitfalls

A rule of customary international law is binding upon all States. One controversial question is whether a State should be permitted not to be bound by such a rule in the event that it objected to it in the early stage of its formation and did so constantly thereafter. This is the theory of the ‘persistent objector’. Articles recently published about the theory focus on its specific application in different areas of international law, including international investment law,1 international humanitarian law2 and human rights law.3 The present article intends to examine the concept of persistent objector in general international law.4

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SOI - Save Our Investments! International Investment Law and International Humanitarian Law

The Journal of World Investment & Trade ◽

10.1163/22119000-01403006 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 578-594 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Heather L. Bray

Keyword(s):

Armed Conflict ◽

International Investment ◽

International Humanitarian Law ◽

Humanitarian Law ◽

Foreign Investors ◽

International Investment Law ◽

Clear Point ◽

Security Standard ◽

Investment Law ◽

Point Of Intersection

This article reviews the interaction between international humanitarian law (IHL) and international investment law (IIL). Specifically, this article analyses the point of intersection between IHL and IIL through the application of the full protection and security standard in times of armed conflict. From this comparative exercise, the author concludes that while IHL and IIL share important similarities, the clear absence of an individual complaints procedure for victims of IHL provides a clear point of departure. Unlike IHL, IIL provides foreign investors with the ability to submit a claim directly to an international forum for harm suffered during an armed conflict. This difference has enabled the international community to respond to the unique distress signal of one particular group of victims in times of armed conflict – foreign investors.

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Is it Already Too Late for Colombia’s Land Restitution Process?

International Human Rights Law Review ◽

10.1163/22131035-00501003 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 60-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tara L. Van Ho

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Property Rights ◽

Transitional Justice ◽

International Investment ◽

Humanitarian Law ◽

International Investment Law ◽

Investment Law ◽

Foreign Corporations ◽

The Impact ◽

Land Restitution

Approximately five million people were forcefully displaced by the civil war in Colombia. The 2011 Colombian Victims’ Law is intended to provide property restitution to some of the individuals displaced as a result of human rights and humanitarian law violations. During the conflict, however, land titles and property rights were transferred to corporations, including foreign corporations protected by international investment law. The impact of the restitution process outlined in the Victims’ Law on foreign corporations raises concerns that international investment law may inhibit the full realisation of the Victims’ Law’s restitution process. This article uses the Colombian context to explore broader issues of the impact investment law’s protection of foreign corporations can have on transitional justice initiatives aimed at remedying and redressing serious and systematic human rights and humanitarian law violations.

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