This is the fifth consecutive year that we, either together or separately, have reported on trends at the intersection of human rights and international investment arbitration from the prior year (see prior Blog coverage, here, here, here, and here). As we emphasized last year, developments at this intersection continue directional trends from prior years, but also the aperture for…

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in international arbitration for quite some time now. Before the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, there seemed to be an implied consensus that neither soft law nor regulation on the use of AI in arbitration was required. AI tools appeared to be considered as just one category of…

On 30 November 2022, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (along with the British Institute of International and Comparative Law) organised the 2022 Kaplan Lecture. The lecture was delivered by Robert Spano – a former President and Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) – and focussed on the new frontiers faced by…

This is the fourth consecutive year that we, either together or separately, have reported on trends at the intersection of human rights and international investment arbitration from the prior year (see prior Blog coverage, here, here, and here). As we emphasized last year, developments at this intersection continue directional trends from prior years, but also converge across both…

2022 was arguably the year when climate change entered the mainstream of policymaking in the investment treaty regime, with a particular focus on aligning the regime with international climate commitments, most notably the Paris Agreement. Nevertheless, debates over the interaction between the investment treaty regime and climate mitigation efforts have been active for around 15…

On 14 September 2022, the DIS40 Autumn Conference was held in Berlin, Germany, as part of the first edition of Berlin Dispute Resolution Days – a near week-long series of conferences and events focused on dispute resolution. It also coincided with the 20th anniversary of the DIS40, making it a rather special gathering for dispute resolution practitioners…

The second edition of Washington Arbitration Week (WAW) drew attention to areas of synergy between corporate social responsibility (“CSR”), human rights assessments and international arbitration. Consistent with these themes, the panel “What can Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Rights Assessments teach to International Arbitration?” discussed the current legal status of this topic and future developments….

Globalization has diversified the actors, institutions, norms, and instruments on the international legal stage. With diversification comes increased specialization and, in turn, organization around so-called regimes. The notion that international legal regimes can exist autonomously has long been refuted; indeed, each regime draws from general international law to some degree. If regimes are not autonomous,…

This post shares a development of potential significance, i.e., the drafting of the Sustainable Investment Facilitation & Cooperation Agreement (SIFCA), a next-generation model bilateral investment treaty (BIT) developed for The Gambia, a sovereign State in West Africa and one of the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). This post continues the discussion raised in January 2021,…

International arbitration is changing at a fast pace, and opportunities arise every day in this field. In this context, on May 25, 2021, Young Arbitral Women Practitioners, Holland & Knight, and Rising Arbitrators Initiative co-hosted a webinar to discuss emerging fields of practice for arbitration lawyers. This post offers an overview of the variety of…

The Third Annual Schiefelbein Global Dispute Resolution Conference took place on Friday, January 15, 2021. The conference was hosted by the Lodestar Dispute Resolution Center at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and generously supported by Les and Linda Schiefelbein. This post distills selected topics and highlights from the conference – including comments from…

Among its over 50 decisions on appeals against arbitral awards rendered in 2020, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (“Supreme Court”) in two decisions yet again addressed a delicate issue on the interaction of human rights and arbitration: can private parties challenge arbitral awards on the basis that the arbitral tribunal violated their human rights under…

It will come as no surprise to the readers of this blog that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on international arbitration (see blog coverage here).  In this post, we take a look back at 2020 to consider the intersection of the pandemic, investment, and human rights.  In February 2020, one of…

The intersection between human rights and arbitration is often complicated and ambiguous. The recent discussion between the President of the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”), Judge Robert Spano, Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao during Delos’ In conversation with Neil webinar (the recording is also available here) unpacked a number of complex issues…

The 99th Annual Meeting of the American Branch of the International Law Association (“ILA (American Branch)”), known as International Law Weekend (“ILW”), took place virtually this year in New York City on 22-24 October 2020.  This year’s conference included 27 panels, as well as an Opening Plenary Panel, a United Nations 75th Anniversary Plenary Panel, and numerous…

Reforms Are Afoot Calls for investor-State dispute settlement (“ISDS”) reform have catalyzed efforts to evolve the regime. Concurrently, the ISDS system continues to wrestle with tensions between an investment regime primarily oriented towards protecting investor rights, and the human rights normative architecture for protection of individual rights and associated State obligations for protection of such rights. ISDS…

In a recent post, we were told to ‘Roll Out the Red Carpet’ for the Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration (the “Rules”). Indeed, the Rules are a new development within the field to assist with disputes relating to human rights and their violations. Following a process of draft reports and public consultations,…

Several developments in 2019 highlighted the increased presence of human rights considerations in international investment law. As described by our contributors, however, tensions persist. The 2019 Netherlands Model Agreement, released in March, represented a notably progressive approach to reflecting human rights considerations in foreign investment, as explained by our contributors. This development builds on related…

Introducing the Rules Playing its part in the twenty-first century movement to protect human rights, the international legal community has taken a significant step forward by providing for a framework to resolve business and human rights disputes by arbitration. Lead by the former ICJ justice, Judge Bruno Simma, The Hague Rules on Business and Human…

Immunity from lawsuits afforded to international organizations, such as the United Nations, the World Bank Group and International Labour Organization, may have the beneficial effect of ensuring their freedom from the influences of the governments of their host nations, but it may also have the side effect of depriving hundreds of thousands of international civil…

Recently, focus has been brought upon the use of international arbitration to solve human rights abuses caused by businesses (“BHR Arbitration“). Disputes involving human rights violations often occur between parties of unequal financial means and commercial sophistication, and in countries which cannot offer an efficient and free from corruption judicial system. Arbitration has the potential…

Ever since its inception, investment arbitration has benefited from a perception of self-contained ecosystem that does not interact with any other normative subject matter. Investor-State tribunals for the most part have been reluctant to accommodate the application of non-investment obligations and treaties, claiming either lack of jurisdiction over such claims, or affirming upfront that non-investment…

During the London International Dispute Week in May this year (which was covered at the Kluwer Arbitration Blog in depth, see here), a panel on “energy disputes in a disruptive world” focused on the increasing prevalence of claims against energy companies in relation to climate change or for involvement in human rights impacts. I had…

Since 2013, an independent group of international lawyers (the Working Group of the Business and Human Rights Arbitration project) has been considering the possibility of using international arbitration as a method of resolving disputes over obligations and commitments arising out of business-related human rights abuses.  The idea underlying the project is that international arbitration could…