Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 11/2012

Starting anew in international investment law

M Sornarajah

July 2012

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Abstract

There is a crisis in international investment law brought about by rapid changes in the economic order resulting in movements of capital from erstwhile developing countries like China and India into developed ones. This is accentuated by the stances taken in investment treaty arbitration that restrict regulatory control. The reaction has been to bring about so called "balanced treaties" that neither secure investment protection nor bring about clear rules on regulatory control. There is a need for a new beginning.