The investor-state dispute settlement reform process: design, dilemmas and discontents

Abstract

This Special Issue takes the pulse of the UN Commission on International Trade Law process on reforming investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) at its midway point. It features contributions by members of the Academic Forum on ISDS, engaging with various topics on the negotiating table, as well as some that are off the table or hovering in-between. Together, these articles seek to address questions of design, dilemmas and discontent – especially how states negotiate the values and tradeoffs of reform, and engage (or not) with critics of the process. They do so from the perspectives of law, social science and public policy and they employ a range of methods, including computational approaches.