Reform of Investor-State Dispute Settlement – Current State of Play at UNCITRAL

Abstract

In the last two decades, investor-State dispute settlement has received continuous criticism related to inter alia the legitimacy, transparency and efficiency of the current system. Since 2017, different options of how to improve the system are discussed at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). The reform options discussed in this context are of high political relevance, considering that investor-State dispute settlement often concerns sensitive topics related to States’ sovereign regulatory powers. In order to provide a overview for all interested parties, this article summarizes and explains the different reform options discussed at UNCITRAL in the last four years. It also presents the positions of the relevant stakeholders, evaluates some of the reform options and gives an outlook over the next steps needed to move the reform efforts forward.a