Human Rights in International Investment Law and Arbitration

This book offers a systematic analysis of the interaction between international investment law, investment arbitration and human rights, including the role of national and international courts, investor-state arbitral tribunals and alternative jurisdictions, the risks of legal and jurisdictional fragmentation, the human rights dimensions of investment law and arbitration, and the relationships of substantive and procedural principles of justice to international investment law.

Part I summarizes the main conclusions of the 24 book chapters and places them into the broader context of the principles of justice, global administrative law and multilevel constitutionalism that may be relevant for the administration of justice in international economic law and investor-state arbitration. Part II includes contributions clarifying the constitutional dimensions of transnational investment disputes and investor-state arbitration, as reflected in the increasing number of arbitral awards and amicus curiae submissions addressing human rights concerns. Part III addresses the need for principle-oriented ordering and the normative congruence of diverse national, regional and worldwide legal regimes, focusing on the pertinent dispute settlement practices and legal interpretation methods of regional economic courts and human rights courts, which increasingly interpret international economic law with due regard to human rights obligations of the governments concerned.

Part IV includes twelve case studies on the potential human rights dimensions of specific protection standards (e.g. fair and equitable treatment, non-discrimination), applicable law (e.g. national and international human rights law, rules on corporate social accountability), procedural law issues (e.g. amicus curiae submissions) and specific fundamental rights (e.g. the protection of human health, access to water, and protection of the environment). These case studies discuss not only the still limited examples of human rights discourse in investor-state arbitral awards; they also probe the potential legal relevance of investor-state arbitration for the judicial recognition, interpretation and balancing of primary rules, such as of investment law and human rights law, in the light of the principles of justice as defined by national and international law.

Pierre-Marie Dupuy is Professor of public international law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. He is on leave from the Universiti?? de Paris II (Panthi??on-Assas) and was Professor at the European University Institute in Florence from 2000 to September 2008. Professor Dupuy has an extensive experience in the field of international dispute settlement and international arbitration including in the framework of ICSID and UNCITRAL.

Francesco Francioni holds a doctorate in law from the University of Florence and an LL.M from Harvard University. Currently, he holds the chair of international law and human rights at the European University Institute and is visiting professor at the University of Texas. Other visiting appointments include the University of Oxford and Cornell Law School. He has been a delegate of the Italian government in many international negotiations especially in the field of environmental protection and cultural heritage.

Prof. Dr. Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann holds the chair for international and European law at the European University Institute and was previously professor at the University of Geneva and its Graduate Institute for International Studies. He has practiced international economic law for more than 30 years as legal advisor in GATT and the WTO, legal advisor, member or chairman of numerous GATT and WTO dispute settlement panels, and German representative in numerous European and international organizations. His publications include 25 books and more than 200 articles and book contributions.