The discussion in this paper elaborates a tiered set of reforms designed to (1) protect foreign investment, while (2) affording appropriate policy space for governments to develop and regulate their economies in a sustainable manner and (3) ensuring equitable governance of investment disputes...

This article discusses the development and main contributions of NAFTA to international investment law in the last fifteen years. After analyzing the context of the negotiations, the article examines the contributions of NAFTA to the substantive law applicable to foreign investors. The paper...

The North American Free Trade Agreement (‘NAFTA' or ‘the Agreement'), ratified in 1994, is the first free trade agreement to openly incorporate environmental provisions. Its ratification engendered a sustained debate on the effects of trade on environmental degradation that has hardly abated...

The EU is about to conclude an FTA with Canada (CETA) which includes an investment chapter. A similar free trade agreement (FTA) will soon be concluded by the EU with Singapore and India. Moreover, the EU has obtained a negotiation mandate to conclude an FTA with Japan; very soon FTA with the US...

The fair and equitable treatment (FET) standard has long been considered an indispensable part of international investment protection agreements and is often invoked in investor-state arbitration (ISA). Particularly after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect in 1994,...

This article critically analyses the latest Awards in the NAFTA Chapter 11 Pope & Talbot case. The Final Award in Respect of Damages, issued on 31 May 2002, contains very interesting developments in the proper interpretation to be given to the concept of "fair and equitable treatment" included...

The adverse effect of international trade and investment agreements on the protection and enjoyment of human rights has been a growing concern among human rights NGOs and UN human rights bodies in recent years. Surprisingly, these concerns have not been translated into legal challenges to trade...

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (‘TPP'), which was signed in November 2015 by the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Vietnam, is arguably the most significant trade and international investment protection deal...

This Concept Paper addresses some of the issues raised with respect to the development of an APEC Investment Treaty Handbook. The Paper proceeds as follows. Part 1 sets out the legal and governance challenges posed by investment treaties, giving rise to the need for a resource like the APEC...