Law Commons^™

The Blurring Of The Public/Private Distinction Or The Collapse Of A Category? The Story Of Investment Arbitration, Guillermo J. Garcia Sanchez

Guillermo J. Garcia Sanchez

The paper is a response piece to Deborah Hensler and Damira Khatam’s new article, Re-inventing Arbitration: How Expanding the Scope of Arbitration Is Re-Shaping Its Form and Blurring the Line Between Private and Public Adjudication. Their main argument regarding the public-private distinction is that the arbitral procedure has changed as a consequence of the substantive issues resolved in this particular ADR system. According to them the arbitral system, which was originally conceived for commercial purposes, has become another way of litigating public law, but without the accountability mechanisms attached to public courts. In this paper, I agree in large part …

Using The Theories Of Exit, Voice, Loyalty, And Procedural Justice To Reconceptualize Brazil's Rejection Of Bilateral Investment Treaties, Nancy A. Welsh, Andrea Kupfer Schneider, Kathryn Rimpfel

Nancy Welsh

In the past decade, investor-state arbitration has made tremendous gains in both credibility and use. There is now widespread accession to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (“ICSID Convention” or “Washington Convention”). States have executed more than 2,000 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) defining the terms and conditions under which one (“investor”) state’s nationals and companies will invest in the other (“host”) state. Such terms include provisions allowing foreign investors to initiate arbitration proceedings against the host state, and at this point, more than 500 disputes have been submitted to investor-state arbitration. …

The Thoughtful Integration Of Mediation Into Bilateral Investment Treaty Arbitration, Nancy A. Welsh, Andrea Kupfer Schneider

Nancy Welsh

While the current system of investment treaty arbitration has definitely improved upon the “gunboat diplomacy” used at times to address disputes between states and foreign investors, there are signs that reform is needed: states and investors increasingly express concerns regarding the costs associated with the arbitration process, some states refuse to comply with arbitral awards, other states hesitate to sign new bilateral investment treaties, and citizens have begun to engage in popular unrest at the prospect of investment treaty arbitration. As a result, both investors and states are advocating for the use of mediation to supplement investor-state arbitration. This Article …

Between Dialogue And Decree: International Review Of National Courts, Robert B. Ahdieh

Robert B. Ahdieh

Recent years have seen dramatic growth in the number of international tribunals at work across the globe, from the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, to the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Claims in Switzerland and the International Criminal Court. With this development has come both increased opportunity for interaction between national and international courts and increased occasion for conflict. Such friction was evident in the recent decision in Loewen Group, Inc. v. United States, in which an arbitral panel constituted under the North American Free Trade Agreement found …

The Ballad Of Transborder Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Thomas Carbonneau

International commercial arbitration (ICA) is many things positive. Because business transactions cannot take place without a functional system of adjudication,ICA has enabled parties to engage in and pursue international commerce. As a result, it has had an enormous impact upon the international practice of law, the structuring of a de facto international legal system, and the development of a substantive world law of commerce. In a word, ICA has been a vital engine in the creation of a transborder rule of law. Furthering this design, the arbitral "method"has even been applied to the unruly political problems that attend international trade …

International Arbitration Rules And Their Effect On The Merits Of Energy Sector Disputes, Brian Abbas

Brian Abbas

International Arbitration Rules and Their Effect on the Merits of Energy Sector Disputes Many countries around the world rely on the energy sector for industry, national security, mobility, economy, and countless other benefits. The importance of the energy sector makes disputes likely and necessitates dispute resolution mechanisms. Through International Investment Agreements (IIAs), arbitration has become an integral part of the dispute resolution process in international energy sector disputes. Thus, understanding the arbitration rules and how choosing one set of rules can affect the outcome of an international energy sector dispute becomes an important task. The most prevalent arbitration rules are …

Protocols For International Arbitrators Who Dare To Settle Cases, Harold Abramson

Harold I. Abramson

The best time to settle an international business dispute can be after the international arbitration proceeding has been commenced. Just like in court litigation, parties may be ready to settle only after the adjudicatory process has begun and even has progressed. In court, judges commonly open the door to settlement; they hold settlement conferences and even actively participate in settlement negotiations. But arbitrators rarely open the door to settlement; when they do, they risk losing their jobs. So, what can international arbitrators safely do? What dare they do? In this article, the author explores the dilemma presented when one neutral …

Assessing The Exposure Of Asian States To Investment Claims, Julien Chaisse

Julien Chaisse

The developments which are now taking place show that Asian states are increasingly negotiating international investment agreements (hereinafter IIAs) — in the form of BITs or PTAs — which form a dense network of obligations. Although few cases had been brought against Asian states by 2009, the pattern has changed since 2010, with a sharp increase in the initiation of investor-state arbitration proceedings over the last three years bringing the total of investment claims against Asian States to a significant total of 87 international disputes. Although some IIAs have generated a few disputes for technical reasons (for example, those concluded …

Doping Control, Mandatory Arbitration, And Process Dangers For Accused Athletes In International Sports , Maureen A. Weston

Maureen A Weston

Athletes in a professional sports league in the United States are members of players unions, which assist their athletes in obtaining representation when they are involved in dispute resolution proceedings associated with disciplinary actions. However, individual athletes who participate in international competitions do not enjoy the same benefits. When these athletes are required to submit to mandatory drug testing, with attendant potential criminal liability, and to mandatory arbitration, they should be provided meaningful access to competent legal representation when their athletic careers are in jeopardy. This article considers the legal framework, process, and recourse for athletes in international competition to …

East Asia’S Engagement With Cosmopolitan Ideals Under Its Trade Treaty Dispute Provisions, Chin Leng Lim

Chin Leng Lim

An East Asian view about how trade dispute settlement systems should be designed is slowly emerging. This paper argues that democratically-inspired trade law scholarship and cultural explanations of the international law behaviour of the Southeast and Northeast Asian trading nations have failed to capture or prescribe the actual treaty behaviour of these nations. Instead, such behaviour has resulted in the emergence of two different treaty models for the peaceful settlement of trade disputes. This article traces the practices of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), together with that of China, Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. We find two …

Contracting For State Intervention, W. Mark C. Weidemaier

W. Mark C. Weidemaier

Bits, Ippas, Trips And Icsid: Justice For Some, Alphabet Soup For All, Christopher Wadlow

Christopher Wadlow

Examines the possibility that ICSID (the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes) might be a more favourable forum than the WTO for private party complaints of violations of the TRIPs Agreement, if the state conduct alleged to violate TRIPs amounted to expropriation or breach of the principle of fair and equitable treatment.

Implementation Of The United Nations Convention On Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods (Cisg) Under Shari’A (Islamic Law): Will Article 78 Of The Cisg Be Enforced When The Forum Is An Islamic State?, Ty Twibell

Ty Twibell