Reforming Investment Dispute Settlement: A stocktaking

By UNCTAD, published by UNCTAD, March 2019

ISDS continues to be controversial, spurring debate in the investment and development community and among the public at large. States are responding to challenges and concerns surrounding ISDS through different avenues. Taking stock of where reform stands today, this IIA Issues Note traces ISDS-related reform developments in recently concluded IIAs and in policy-making processes from the national to the multilateral level. It lists five principal approaches emerging from IIAs signed in 2018: 1) no ISDS, 2) a standing ISDS tribunal, 3) limited ISDS, 4) improved ISDS procedures and 5) an unreformed ISDS mechanism. It also highlights the prominence gained by multilateral engagement on ISDS reform, including through UNCITRAL Working Group III discussions on the possible reform of ISDS and processes at ICSID for the amendment of its rules. Available at https://investmentpolicy.unctad.org/publications/1194/reforming-investment-dispute-settlement-a-stocktaking