Water Services Disputes In International Arbitration

Water Services Disputes in International Arbitration Reconsidering the Nexus of Investment Protection, Environment, and Human Rights by Xu Qian The argument that universal access to water is a human right is based on the fact that life on Earth cannot exist without water. Yet the enormous cost of building and maintaining water service infrastructure, purifying, monitoring quality, and providing sanitation services is beyond the means of many of the States most in need. Foreign investment is thus mandated—hence the often acrimonious tension manifest in investor-State disputes over water rights. This book offers the first in-depth analysis of both international treaty norms and their interpretation by arbitral tribunals applicable to investment in water and sanitation services, complete with thoroughly researched recommendations for those arbitral practitioners in the eye of the storm. Like no previous study the book clearly reveals how to reconcile the economic and fundamental human interests arising from investment in water and sanitation services under the international investment regime. Among many vital issues, the author highlights the importance of the following: legitimacy of a State’s alleged regulatory objectives, the suitability of the measures undertaken to achieve the objective, and whether there are less restrictive means available; legal framework and stability of the State; applicable law, changes in law, and emergency circumstances; economic issues such as water pricing; profit-driven private companies’ reluctance to serve the poor; investment tribunals’ generation of a “regulatory and jurisprudential regime” on water and sanitation services; and determination of liability in relation to expropriation, fair and equitable treatment, and necessity. Arguing that the current investment treaty and arbitral case law framework can regulate water and sanitation services if certain interpretations are favored by adjudicators, the author offers viable, sustainable, and reasonable legal solutions. A detailed annex presents cases decided before a variety of arbitral tribunals, as well as relevant WTO and ICJ cases, and reviews critical literature in the field. The increasing number of cases involved with States’ regulatory measures shows that stakes around water services generate specific legal problems which are new in the world of international economic law. As an incisive investigation of what has been called the “incursion of investment tribunal decisions into the regulatory autonomy of host States,” this profound and innovative analysis provides a coherent and consistent method of review that provides greater certainty to both States and investors and deters abuse of power. It will be welcomed by policymakers and stakeholders interested in the implications of “globalization” of water services for the capacity to adapt to climate change and will suggest ways to enable States to better manage vital water services, even after privatization to foreign companies.

Environmental Interests in Investment Arbitration Challenges and Directions Flavia Marisi Economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection stand at the core of sustainable development, which aims to deliver long-term growth for current and future generations. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can play a key role in sustainable development. Host states’ benefits descending from FDI inflows include tax revenues, technology transfer, specialised training of local human resources, network with satellite activities, better availability of quality products and customer-centric services. These downstream effects jointly stimulate economic growth and social inclusion. This thoroughly researched book explores the relationship between environmental protection – the third component of sustainable development – and FDI. In practice, the intersection between environmental protection and foreign investment not only has generated remarkable success stories such as cross-sectoral green investment but has also in some instances led to severe cases of environmental degradation. Certain foreign investments resulted in open-pit mines leaking harmful substances into the soil, excessive deforestation, improper treatment of water, pollution of groundwater and contamination of mud pits following oil exploitation, leaving the host state with significant environmental damage. Some other cases have witnessed the host state withdrawing or infringing its own environmental policies, which could, in principle, lead to a decrease in the value of the foreign investment as a result of natural resources deterioration. In recent years, an increasing number of investment arbitration cases have seen a clash between the states’ commitments towards their citizens, which include the duty to protect the environment, their health and well-being, and the commitment towards foreign investors to protect their investments. In this book, the author focuses on investor-state cases in which environmental protection measures have been contested and discusses substantive mechanisms in treaty drafting, rules of Customary International Law, and interpretation doctrines, which are aimed at taking environmental concerns into consideration. The topics covered include the following: statistical analysis of investor-state cases where environmental protection measures have been contested; the role of environmental principles in investor-state arbitration; treaty mechanisms addressing environmental concerns; legal tools available under Customary International Law to address environmental interests; the application of the doctrines of proportionality, police powers, and margin of appreciation; and environmental counterclaims as an instrument to claim compensation for environmental damage. The author provides a detailed framework on the normative architecture, offers an extensive analysis of the relevant case law, and proposes concrete solutions to the identified clashes, aimed at refining the balance between environmental and investment protection. With its in-depth analysis and careful documentation, this book aptly captures the inherent fragmentation of international law and undoubtedly represents an invaluable resource for both international law practitioners and scholars. The solution-oriented approach adopted in the book will be welcomed by legal counsel, law firms, investment treaty negotiators, and decision makers at the different stages of investment lawmaking and practice, as well as by international institutions and academics.

This ground-breaking volume provides analyses from experts around the globe on the part played by national and international law, through legislation and the courts, in advancing efforts to tackle climate change, and what needs to be done in the future. Published under the auspices of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL), the volume builds on an event convened at BIICL, which brought together academics, legal practitioners and NGO representatives. The volume offers not only the insights from that event, but also additional materials, sollicited to offer the reader a more complete picture of how climate change litigation is evolving in a global perspective, highlighting both opportunities, and constraints.

A thorough analysis of how effectively international courts and tribunals adjudicate transboundary water disputes, using detailed case studies.

International investment law is in a state of evolution. With the advent of investor-State arbitration in the latter part of the twentieth century - and its exponential growth over the last decade - new levels of complexity, uncertainty and substantive expansion are emerging. States continue to enter into investment treaties and the number of investor-State arbitration claims continues to rise. At the same time, the various participants in investment treaty arbitration are faced with increasingly difficult issues concerning the fundamental character of the investment treaty regime, the role of the actors in international investment law, the new significance of procedure in the settlement of disputes and the emergence of cross-cutting issues. Bringing together established scholars and practitioners, as well as members of a new generation of international investment lawyers, this volume examines these developments and provides a balanced assessment of the challenges being faced in the field.

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Dispute Resolution in the Law of International Watercourses and the Law of the Sea offers novel comparative analysis from leading experts on the resolution of disputes concerning international watercourses and the oceans.

In Investors, States, and Arbitrators in the Crosshairs of International Investment Law and Environmental Protection, Dr Crina Baltag and Ylli Dautaj look at the investor-State dispute settlement system and inquire whether this is the most suitable transnational venue for resolving investment disputes that have an environmental component.