Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS): State of play and prospects for reform

Briefing 21-01-2014

Investor-State Dispute Settle­ment (ISDS) mechanisms are found in more than 3 000 international investment treaties, but have been increasingly criticised in recent years. Their advocates defend them as a depoliticised neutral system to resolve disputes between foreign investors and host states. The issue of ISDS has lately come to public attention in the EU, with the completion of negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada, and the opening of negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement.