By Justine Touzet, Member of the Paris and New York Bar, Associate at Savoie Arbitration in Paris and Marine Vienot de Vaublanc, Member of the Paris Bar, LLM Candidate in International Dispute Resolution, Fordham School of Law
Recent events such as the NAFTA re-negotiations have drawn leading newspapers around the world to turn their attention to ISDS tribunals. Often in an effort to make their stories sensational, they speak of “obscure tribunals,” “secret trade court,” and “justice behind closed doors,” most of the time giving it an unfair and biased image.
In this context, the UN Commission on International Trade Law entrusted the Working Group III (the Working Group) with a broad mandate to work on the possible reform of the ISDS framework. The Working Group is one of the six working groups to perform the substantive preparatory work on topics within the Commission’s program of work. Within its mandate, the Working Group is working on identifying and considering expressed concerns about ISDS (I) and desirable reforms and solutions to be recommended to the Commission (II).
Continue reading The Investor-State Dispute Settlement System: The Road To Overcoming Criticism