AIB Insights Vol. 16, No. 1 ConCerns ThaT inTernaTional invesTmenT agreements (IIAs) impact a government’s right to regulate and lead to “regulatory chill” have once again surfaced in the wake of the negotiations on the Pacific Rim’s Transpacific Partnership (TTP) and the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). These concerns are not new and have persisted since NAFTA Chapt...

We argue that the trend toward international investment agreements (IIAs) with stricter investment rules is driven by competitive diffusion, namely defensive moves of developing countries concerned about foreign direct investment (FDI) diversion in favor of competing host countries. Accounting for spatial dependence in the formation of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and preferential trade...

This study uses quantitative analyses of the complete history of rulings made by the Panels and the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organisation’s Dispute Settlement Mechanism in order to assess the robustness of theories regarding the decision-making of these institutions, as well as to explore the potential for such studies of the WTO at this early stage of its development. Regression analy...

Most investment treaties contain two dispute resolution clauses: one permitting investor-state arbitration for investment disputes and the other permitting state-to-state arbitration for disputes concerning the treaty’s interpretation and/or application. Despite this duality, the potential role of state-to-state arbitration, and its proper relationship with investor-state arbitration, have larg...

the 1965 washington convention on the settlement of investment disputes between states and nationals of other states created international center for settlement of investment disputes (icsid). this center conducts investment disputes arbitration according to the rules of the convention. the choice of law rules of the washington convention have been provided in article 42. second sentence of art...

Despite debuting to little fanfare under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), dispute settlement under the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been called the “backbone of the multilateral trading system.” Indeed, whereas GATT dispute settlement could scarcely have seemed more flawed, the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) is widely touted for boosting confidence in an in...

A key element of the progressive trade agenda is attention to concerns Indigenous peoples. To ensure that peoples' interests are addressed in free agreement negotiations and as part policy more generally, at least four aspects must be priorities. These duty consult, distinct features traditional knowledge, investor-state dispute settlement, inter-Indigenous trade. Successfully integrating these...