Global Public Interest in International Investment Law

Outlines a general theory of whether and how to include public interest concerns in the realm of international investment law.

Andreas Kulick (Author)

9781107021761, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 July 2012

412 pages
23.4 x 15.7 x 2.3 cm, 0.77 kg

'Kulick's study is ambitious, sophisticated, and courageous … this book is a bold attempt to develop a theoretical basis for putting public interest considerations back on the map.' Wonjoo Choe, International Law and Politics

The strengths of international investment law - above all, a strong focus on investor interests and an effective adjudication and enforcement system - also entail its weaknesses: it runs the danger of impeding or even sanctioning the host states' legitimate regulatory interests and ignoring other fields of public international law. How does it cope with public interest concerns such as human rights, the environment or the fight against corruption? At the heart of this book lies a fresh approach towards a general theory of such global public interest considerations in the investment realm. Delineating how and why those considerations matter, and why the current system does not accommodate them properly, Andreas Kulick fleshes out general principles and customary international law as defences the host state may raise against alleged investor rights infringements and promotes proportionality as the appropriate balancing mechanism.

1. Introduction
Part I. Towards the Global Public Interest Theory: 2. The 'internationalization' of international investment law
3. Considering current approaches dealing with public interest considerations in the investment regime
4. The Global Public Interest theory
5. How to balance the conflicting interests: proportionality analysis
Part II. Global Public Interest in International Investment Case Law: 6. International investment law and the environment
7. Human rights and investment - friends or foes?
8. Corruption and other irregularities
9. Concluding remarks.

Subject Areas: Arbitration, mediation & alternative dispute resolution [LNAC5], Public international law [LBB], Law [L]