Public statement on the international investment regime
31 August 2010
PUBLIC STATEMENT ON THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT REGIME
Attached is a statement of concern about the international investment regime and its impacts on human development and environmental sustainability. It is supported by academics with expertise in investment law, arbitration, and regulation, from 24 universities across nine countries.
The statement is available in English, French, Spanish, and Russian at http://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/public_statement/.
We hope the statement will be of interest and invite you to help us disseminate it widely.
By way of background, the statement was motivated by current developments, including:
– European Union processes to develop a common investment policy that could consolidate or supercede hundreds of bilateral investment treaties, for better or worse.
– Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement negotiations that could develop into a template for a multilateral investment agreement.
– regional initiatives to reform investment law and arbitration, especially in Latin America.
– reviews by states of their domestic policy on investment law and arbitration.
– possible World Trade Organization negotiations on investment, especially in relation to trade disciplines under the General Agreement on Trade in Services.
– revisions of arbitration rules by the UN Commission on International Trade Law and by the International Chamber of Commerce, potentially addressing issues of undue secrecy and conflicts of interest in investment arbitration.
– upcoming meetings of the UN Conference on Trade and Development and other organizations dealing with investment treaties.
The statement has circulated informally since early August 2010. It is now open to support from individuals and organizations. To express support or for further information, please contact either of the undersigned.
Yours sincerely,
Gus Van Harten, Associate Professor
Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Toronto ON, Canada, +1 416 650 8419
gvanharten@osgoode.yorku.ca
David Schneiderman, Professor of Law and Political Science
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Toronto ON, Canada, +1 416 978 2677
david.schneiderman@utoronto.ca
