The future of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)

Abstract

What, if anything, is new in the study of investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) today? Since 2017, multilateral negotiations on how to reform ISDS have been underway. In these negotiations, and in the wider reform discussion around ISDS, we see a multitude of actors involved, and a wide range of perceptions influencing proposals for the future of settlement between investors and states. In this panel, a wide variety of issues related to both the functioning of ISDS and the design of future dispute settlement mechanisms are tackled. Dotzauer uses a survey experiment to assess how ISDS rulings influence citizen perceptions of the system. Calvert analyzes how various international organizations both compete and cooperate to shape which ISDS reforms emerge, and where they are discussed. Importantly, many reform options are not brand new and there are lessons to be learned from previous experiences. Using evidence from the Swiss and German archives, Batselé examines how investment disputes were resolved before states started including ISDS in their investment treaties, showing how a future without treaty-based ISDS could look. Some issues, however, like climate change and local community participation, are genuinely new, as are the way tribunals interpret certain provisions. Yu examines how states have responded to tribunals’ interpretations of a controversial treaty provision in their subsequent treaty design. All together, these papers provide a snapshot of where ISDS reform debates are today – what actors and issues animate debate – and also a moving picture of where they might go in the future.

Title	Details
The effect of unfavorable decisions: Legitimacy beliefs towards different avenues for investor-state dispute resolution	View Paper Details
Investor-state conflicts before ISDS: Evidence from the Swiss & German archives (1959-1989)	View Paper Details
Lost in the ether? Developing country participation in digital diplomacy	View Paper Details