Re-Politicising International Investment Law in Latin America through the Duty to Regulate Paradigm

This book explores how international investment law (IIL) has undermined states' ability to protect human rights in Latin America and calls for a re-politicization of IIL through a re-conceptualization of how states regulate foreign investment under international human rights law. It proposes investment treaties reform to anchor the 'duty to regulate paradigm' in IIL and suggests the creation of a regional ISDS tribunal to address normative/institutional interactions between regimes during ISDS proceedings.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 285 pages
Publication date: 24 May 2022
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This book delves into the intricate relationship between international investment law (IIL) and the protection of human rights in Latin America. It highlights how IIL has often failed to address inter-regime frictions, leaving states struggling to safeguard their citizens' rights. This study argues that IIL should be a subject of contention and debate, rather than being treated as a non-political domain. It further suggests that Latin American countries have been at the forefront of politicizing international legal instruments that protect foreign investment, raising questions about the adequacy of the paradigms guiding their claims articulation.

The book demonstrates that the prevailing paradigm used to challenge IIL, known as the 'right to regulate,' is inadequate from a human rights perspective. Consequently, it calls for a re-politicization of IIL in Latin America through a re-conceptualization of how states regulate foreign investment in line with international human rights law. This entails viewing it as an international duty.

To establish the contours of this international duty, the book analyzes the relationship between the right to water and indigenous peoples' right to lands based on human rights doctrine. It then examines the extent to which Latin American countries are re-politicizing IIL by articulating this international duty and the responses of arbitral tribunals to their argumentative strategies.

Based on the findings, the book proposes investment treaties reform to anchor the 'duty to regulate paradigm' in IIL. This reform aims to encourage tribunals to engage with human rights arguments when they underpin respondent states' defenses in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). In addition, the book draws upon the (now likely defunct) idea of creating a regional investment court to enhance the protection of human rights in Latin America.

Overall, this book offers valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities for promoting human rights in the context of IIL in Latin America. It sheds light on the need for a more robust and inclusive approach to investment regulation that respects and protects the rights of all individuals and communities.

Weight: 468g
Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030732745
Edition number: 1st ed. 2021