Investor Presentaiton
14
INVESTOR-STATE DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: A SEQUEL
proceedings can be kept confidential if the parties so wish. In
addition, the awards are often inconsistent and existing review
mechanisms do not have the capability of reconciling
divergent positions or of effectively correcting erroneous
decisions. Finally, cases are frequently protracted and
expensive.
These concerns have prompted a debate about the
challenges and opportunities of ISDS (World Investment
Report 2013), and some States have started responding to
these concerns through innovations in their treaties' ISDS
clauses.
This paper traces the most significant ISDS features found
in IIAs and analyses the options that States have when they
negotiate these agreements. Most IIAs have a similar structure,
but at the same time display significant variations in regulating
ISDS. This paper seeks to review treaty practices of different
States and explain the rationale for, and implications of,
particular treaty approaches to specific ISDS issues. This
analytical approach is meant to inform future policy decisions
so that the paper may be used as a toolkit for IIA negotiators.
Specific ISDS issues reviewed include:
•
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forms of giving or withholding consent to arbitration in
an IIA;
the scope of ISDS, identifying the types of disputes
that can be submitted to arbitration;
waiting periods and amicable settlement procedures,
including alternative dispute resolution;
UNCTAD Series on International Investment Agreements IIView entire presentation