Equality of Parties Before International Investment Tribunals

The equality of the parties is a fundamental element of a fair system of adjudication. As such it is applicable to international investment arbitration. Yet the application of the equality principle in this context has given rise to much recent debate both at the procedural and at the constitutional level, as states and other stakeholders have considered the scope for reform of investment arbitration. This Report, commissioned for the 18th Commission of the Institut de Droit International, analyses the implications of the equality principle in its application both to the establishment and design of an international investment tribunal and to its procedures: the admissibility of claims and counterclaims; and admissibility or exclusion of evidence; the effect of the State's criminal law powers on the tribunal's process; costs and security for costs. The Report will be published in the Annuaire de l'Institut de Droit International and debated at its 79th Session in The Hague, August 2019.