Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (Nov 2022)

Back to sovereignty? Policy space in investor-State dispute settlement

  • Magdalena Bas

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7329202200216
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 65, no. 2

Abstract

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Abstract The paper examines how investor-State dispute settlement mechanisms -included in international investment agreements- are able to condition national policy space, even when foreign investors question measures regarding human rights, public health, or environmental protection. It also intends to identify and explain the new trends in international investment agreements that illustrate different ways out the investor-State dispute settlement labyrinth. In order to achieve the objectives, a qualitative documentary research was conducted, based on secondary sources. The new trends in international investment agreements cartography show the emergence of a new concept of sovereignty rooted in the defense of policy space -“regulatory sovereignty”.

Keywords