Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Let us Not Forget about the Role of Domestic Courts in Settling Investor-State Disputes

Let us Not Forget about the Role of Domestic Courts in Settling Investor-State Disputes Thumbnail


Abstract

This overview illustrates that there is a gap in our knowledge of how domestic courts handle investorstate disputes. As it turns out, some foreign investors use the domestic courts of the host State prior to initiating investment treaty arbitration. Subject matter-wise these cases are very diverse, and not all of them are initiated by investors against the host State. Moreover, in the four countries analysed, investors often appealed to the highest courts of the land, but they lost more cases than they won. These findings should help UNCITRAL Working Group III conceptualize the meaning of ‘investor-state dispute’ and the relationship between domestic and international methods of ISDS. It concludes by inviting further empirical research to understand how domestic courts handle investor-state disputes. This in turn can help us develop normative arguments as to why domestic courts should be included in the reform process.

Acceptance Date Nov 19, 2019
Publication Date Feb 7, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals
Print ISSN 1569-1853
Publisher Brill Academic Publishers
Pages 389-415
DOI https://doi.org/10.1163/15718034-12341410
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1163/15718034-12341410

Files




Downloadable Citations