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Abstract
This article analyses impartiality in investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) by identifying the way that the parties' trust in arbitrators is constructed. Drawing on the findings of a large-scale empirical project, it questions the applicability of an orthodox judicial doctrine of impartiality to ISDS on the grounds that trust in arbitrators is constructed on a fundamentally different basis from that of trust in judges. The primary feature of a judicial doctrine of impartiality is that trust is founded on an absolutist approach to impartiality which is intended to ensure that judges have no predispositions to parties. In contrast, trust in ISDS is founded on the method of party appointment which is based on a very different assumption—that arbitrators' predispositions can be valuable and appropriate in the decision-making process. The empirical findings show that the parties' choice of a predisposed arbitrator is generally considered compatible with the understanding of impartiality in ISDS. Accordingly, this article calls for a new, and contextualised, approach which better corresponds to the fundamental value of trust in ISDS.

As negotiations are ongoing in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP), CCSI staff and Jeffrey Sachs discuss the implications of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) for domestic law and policy, focusing on effects within the US. The paper concludes that the risks ISDS poses for domestic law are significant and unjustified, and that there are preferable policy alternatives to pursue as a means of protecting the rights of investors operating overseas.

AbstractThis article examines the rejection of the International Investor–State dispute (ISDS) system across the African continent and its replacement with a range of domestic and regional alternatives. It assesses the advantages of the two principal options for African countries: retaining the current ISDS system, or using local courts and regional tribunals. To this end, the dispute resolution mechanisms proposed in the Pan-African Investment Code, the 2016 Southern African Development Community Finance and Investment Protocol, the SADC model BIT, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Economic Community of West African States and East African Community investment agreements and domestic approaches are critically examined. The argument is then advanced that African countries should not abandon ISDS because replacing it with isolated domestic or regional mechanisms does not reduce any of the risks. In particular, for foreign investors, the risk associated with the adjudication of investment disputes in potentially biased, politically influenced domestic courts may prove too high. African host nations, in turn, risk sending out the wrong message concerning their commitment to the protection of foreign investments. Instead of veering off course, perhaps the time has come for African States to display the political will to remain within the ISDS system and contribute to its reform from within.

Bringing consistency to investment arbitration : challenges and reform proposals / Ameyavikrama Thanvi -- ISDS reform in the EU : are we there yet? / Venetia Argyropoulou -- The path of (re)volution of the international investor-state dispute settlement regime : a case study of Bosnia and Herzegovina / Fahira Brodlija -- The 2015 India Model BIT and its suitability under ISDS / Rose Maria Sebi & Sandeep Golani & Pallab Das -- Chronicles of Middle East in investor-state arbitration : autopsy of prevalent practice trends and future epidemic challenges / Mohamed H. Negm -- The rise of NAFTA 2.0 : a case study in effective ISDS reform / Kiran Nasir Gore & Charles H. Camp -- Reshaping investor-state dispute settlement through an appellate review mechanism / Margie-Lys Jaime -- Arbitrator-made (jurisdictional) law in investment treaty arbitration : application, creation and control / Relja Radovic -- State responsibility for acts of state-controlled entities in investor-state dispute settlement / Srilal M. Perera -- Striking back : an investor's right to confront its home state's decision to terminate investment protection agreements / Anthony R. Daimsis -- Reappraising access to justice in ISDS : a critical review on state recourse to counterclaim / Shahrizal M. Zin -- Time for a clean energy charter treaty? Examining the role of ISDS in promoting and protecting renewable energy investments / Guillermo Garcia-Perrote & Ella Wisniewski -- Addressing financial access to justice in investment treaty arbitration / Victoria Shannon Sahani -- Regulating third-party funding in investor-state arbitration through reform of ICSID and UNCITRAL arbitration rules : holding global institutions to their development mandates / Brooke S. Güven, Frank J. Garcia & Karl M.F. Lockhart & Michael R. Garcia -- Alternatives to arbitration in reforming investor-state dispute settlement / Kinda Mohamadieh -- Mediation as a method to settle international trade and investment disputes / Herman Verbist -- The duty to mitigate : a billion dollar mystery of general principles of law / Kai-chieh Chan & Chuanyu Fan -- Challenges in quantifying damages : are damages getting the treatment they deserve by investor-state tribunals? / Ahmed Abdel-Hakam -- Improving post-award efficiency : proposed reforms to the ICSID annulment process / Ankita Ritwik & Marryum Kahloon -- Enforcement of investment court decisions under the New York convention : a search for defining elements / Brian McGarry.