ISDS Case Map
UNCITRAL
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
Joining the Energy Charter Treaty is not in the public interest, according to South Africa’s government. It has also cancelled other agreements that allowed foreign investors to sue their state. This has not stopped investors from coming, says Mustaqeem de Gama.
The Working Group’s focus was structural reforms, first selection and appointment of permanent or fixed-term adjudicators, then an appellate mechanism.
The working papers focus on an appellate mechanism and enforcement issues and the selection and appointment of ISDS tribunal members.
The problem with the ISDS is not the format of the dispute settlement. The problem is that it is designed to give corporations power to go after government policies.
Meaningful reform aligned with sustainable development seems less likely
Does moving online mean more governments and more officials participate? Or does it lessen the prestige and priority of the negotiations, leading to less engagement by key officials?
Tanzania has enacted significant changes to the legislation governing foreign investment in natural resources with the aim of ridding the sector of the vestiges of “colonial” relationships.
Effective and holistic reform must go beyond procedural matters and cover substantive matters in order to rebalance the system and address recurring concerns that threaten the legitimacy of the ISDS system.
The hegemon aspirants in international investment law have already, and perhaps unwittingly, revealed their three step manual: Disguise, dismiss, divert.
The basis of a claim in ISDS is always the applicable international investment agreement. There would always be differences and inconsistencies with an appellate mechanism.
