The Role of Human Rights in Investment Law and Arbitration: State Obligations, Corporate Responsibility, and Community Empowerment

Posted: 1 May 2020 Last revised: 1 Jun 2020

See all articles by Silvia Steininger

Silvia Steininger

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

Date Written: May 7, 2020

Abstract

This paper investigates the multiple roles of human rights in investment law and arbitration, in particular with respect to state parties, foreign investors, and affected communities. Human rights are not only conflicting and complementary to investment treaties, but can both expand and restrict the scope of jurisdiction of investment tribunals. For states, investors, and third parties alike human rights can be used as a sword or a shield in international investment law and arbitration. By relying on historical, theoretical, and empirical insights, this paper zooms into three different roles of human rights in investment law and arbitration: human rights as obligations for states parties, human rights as defence rights and as part of an emerging responsibility for corporate actors, and human rights as tools to address structural imbalances for affected communities.

Keywords: business and human rights, human rights, investment law, state obligation, corporate responsibility, amicus curiae, ISDS

Suggested Citation

Steininger, Silvia, The Role of Human Rights in Investment Law and Arbitration: State Obligations, Corporate Responsibility, and Community Empowerment (May 7, 2020). Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law & International Law (MPIL) Research Paper No. 2020-16, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3595457 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3595457

Silvia Steininger (Contact Author)

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law ( email )

Im Neuenheimer Feld 535
69120 Heidelberg, 69120
Germany

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