Adjudicating Trade and Investment Disputes: Convergence or Divergence?

Description

Recent trends suggest that international economic law may be witnessing a renaissance of convergence - both parallel and intersectional. The adjudicative process also reveals signs of convergence. These diverse claims of convergence are of legal, empirical and normative interest. Yet, convergence discourse also warrants scepticism. This volume contributes to both the general debate on the fragmentation of international law and the narrower discourse concerning the interplay between international trade and investment, focusing on dispute settlement. It moves beyond broad observations or singular case studies to provide an informed and wide-reaching assessment by investigating multiple standards, processes, mechanisms and behaviours. Methodologically, a normative stance is largely eschewed in favour of a range of 'doctrinal,' quantitative and qualitative methods that are used to address the research questions. Furthermore, in determining the extent of convergence or divergence, it is important to recognize that there is no bright line or clear yardstick for determining its nature or degree.

Szilard Gaspar-Szilagyi is former Postdoctoral Fellow at PluriCourts, University of Oslo. He holds a PhD from Aarhus University (Denmark) and publishes on topics concerning the EU's trade and investment policy, EU external relations, and international economic law. He taught or conducted research at University of Amsterdam, The Hague University, Michigan Law School and the Centre for EU External Relations Law at The Hague. Daniel Behn is Senior Lecturer of International Dispute Resolution at Queen Mary University of London School of Law and Associate Professor II at the PluriCourts, University of Oslo. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of World Investment and Trade and Visiting Professor at Penn State Law School. Daniel Behn's scholarship focuses on the interdisciplinary study of international courts and tribunals. Malcolm Langford is a Professor of Public Law, University of Oslo and Co-Director of the Centre on Law and Social Transformation, Chr. Michelsen Institute and University of Bergen, and Associate Fellow at the Pluricourts Centre of Excellence. A lawyer and social scientist, his publications span international investment law, human rights, international development, comparative constitutionalism and the politics of the legal profession. He chairs the Academic Forum on Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) and is the Co-Editor of the Cambridge University Press book series Globalization and Human Rights.

'Facing a most severe legitimacy crisis, trade and investment adjudication is at a crossroads. This remarkable book makes a powerful case for basing policy decisions about the future of the field on an empirical analysis of dispute settlement design options and past performance of investment arbitration and WTO adjudication. A must read for all those thinking about how to reform trade and investment adjudication - and those crafting the future.' Stephan Schill, University of Amsterdam 'Adjudicating Trade and Investment Disputes is an excellent, timely contribution to the growing field of scholarship on the overlap between the two most important spheres of international economic law.' David Collins, International Trade Law & Regulation