scholarly journals Public Goods and International Investment Law: Does the New Generation of IIAs Better Protect Human Rights?

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Pavel Šturma
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Goods ◽  
International Investment ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Investment Arbitration ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
New Generation

The implicit inclusion of human rights and other public goods in international investment law by way of interpretation is always contingent on various factual and legal elements. Consequently, it cannot ensure that all investment arbitration tribunals will arrive to the same or at least similar conclusions when it comes to the inclusion of human rights. That is why the trend to include explicit provisions or references into the newly negotiated IIAs seems to be advisable. The article aims at presenting some new trends in both treaties (BITs and other IIAs) and awards of investment tribunals.

Social movements, reframing investment relations, and enhancing the application of human rights norms in international investment law

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Moshe Hirsch
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Investment Arbitration ◽  
Public Pressure ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Investment Law

Abstract The recent moderate trend to increasingly apply human rights law in investment awards is accompanied by certain new investment treaties which include expressed human rights provisions. An analysis of recent investment awards indicates that though there are some ‘winds of change’ in this field, it is equally noticeable that human rights law is far from being mainstreamed in international investment law. Investment arbitration procedural law is also undergoing a process of change, and the new procedural rules tend to enhance public elements in the investment arbitral system. This study is aimed at explaining these recent legal changes, highlighting the role of social movements in reframing investment relations as well as increasing public pressure to apply human rights law. These framing changes concern broadening the frame of investment arbitration (beyond the foreign investor–host state dyad), reversing the perceived balance of power between investors and host states, and zooming-in on local individuals and communities residing in host states. The discussion on factors impeding legal change in this field emphasizes the role of the private legal culture prevalent in the investment arbitration system, which is reflected and reinforced by certain resilient socio-legal frames. Informed by this analysis, the study suggests some legal mechanisms which can mitigate the inter-partes frame, and increase the application of human rights law in investment arbitration; inter alia, rigorous transparency rules that are likely to facilitate increased public pressure on tribunals and increase the participation of social movements representing local actors in arbitral processes.

scholarly journals Obtaining Damages for Corporate Human Rights Violations in Investment Arbitration Through a Procedural Lens

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmin S
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
Investment Arbitration ◽  
Violent Acts ◽  
Public Scrutiny ◽  
Investment Law

Over the past decades, transnational corporations have come under increasing public scrutiny for their involvement in human rights abuses, particularly in developing countries. One may think of violent acts against local communities, slave labor, and grand scale environmental pollution. International investment law protects and safeguards the rights of foreign investors but falls short of holding them accountable to societies where they operate. Recently, a few arbitral tribunals have grappled with the question of whether corporations can be held accountable for illegalities that constitute human rights violations inflicted upon the host state or its people. This article discusses the arbitral treatment of corporate human rights violations by investment tribunals in three treaty-based cases: Copper Mesa v. Ecuador, Burlington v. Ecuador and Urbaser v. Argentina and draws on recent scholarly work on causation in investor-state arbitration to evaluate their approaches.

Das Menschenrecht auf Wasser im internationalen Investitionsrecht

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Maria Panosch
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Human Right ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Investment Protection ◽  
Investment Arbitration ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Corporate Social

International investment law and the law of human rights currently show an unresolved relationship in the practice of international arbitration. The extent to which a human right to water can be accommodated within the framework of investment protection law has been considered in detail in this thesis. The possible solutions identified in the course of this research offer the potential to adequately take into account a human right to water in investment arbitration, both through non-contractual integration by means of a systemic interpretation along the established guidelines and through the contractual inclusion of explicitly formulated building blocks on Corporate Social Responsibility.

Informal instruments to impose human rights obligations on foreign investors: An emerging practice of legality?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Jean-Michel Marcoux
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Intergovernmental Organizations ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Investment Arbitration ◽  
International Investment Agreements ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Investment Agreements ◽  
Sense Of Obligation

Abstract In parallel to the negotiation of international investment agreements to protect foreign investment, intergovernmental organizations have deployed considerable efforts to adopt and implement standards of conduct for business enterprises operating abroad. Despite their informal character under international law, these instruments are increasingly mentioned in international investment agreements and investment arbitration. How can references to informal instruments elaborated by intergovernmental organizations contribute to the imposition of human rights obligations on foreign investors in international investment law? Drawing upon the interactional theory developed by Jutta Brunnée and Stephen J. Toope, this article considers these references as a practice that has the potential to strengthen the normative pull towards compliance with human rights norms. In addition to emphasizing the role of international investment law as a relevant forum to develop a practice surrounding these informal instruments, it assesses whether the use of these instruments by members of a community of practice is intended to establish a genuine sense of obligation and to impose human rights obligations on foreign investors. Even if some instances evidence a practice that strengthens such a sense of obligation, most of the references included in international investment agreements and investment arbitration do not render a practice of legality.

Part VII Inter-linkages with Other Regimes, Ch.44 Investment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles Kate
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Law ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Public Welfare ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Environmental Protection Policies ◽  
New Generation ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter discusses the relationship between international investment law and international environmental law. The contestation between the fields that emerged in the context of investor-state arbitration was blunt and initially resulted in the rules of international investment law being prioritized over the obligations of states under multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), domestic environmental protection policies and decision-making, and the host state's public welfare regulatory space. Responding to that contest, the new generation bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and free trade agreements (FTAs) reflect the desire of states to work within a more balanced version of the environment/investment nexus. It is not yet, however, at a point where it can be said to be equally balanced in the engagement of international environmental law and international investment law, and there is evidently still room for significant improvements in the way in which environmental issues are understood and interpreted by arbitrators in investor-state disputes. But the culture and context in which the environment and investment are meeting is most definitely shifting and it is hoped that the trajectory continues still further in that direction.

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