Investment and Human Rights in the Shadow of the Pandemic: Recent Developments in 2020

Abstract

The debate on human rights and investment law has markedly developed since Markus Krajewski wrote the first overview on recent trends in arbitration and treaty-making for the Yearbook of International Investment Law & Policy in 2017. In 2020, the investment and human rights nexus has not only been discussed by critical scholars, and general international law journals, but also in fora of the investment law community. Yet, the mainstreaming of human rights into investment law and arbitration has so far not led to a systematic realignment of human rights and investment law.

In this chapter, I will investigate recent developments in the relationship between investment and human rights. This includes both newly registered and concluded cases in investor-state arbitration and new investment agreements, as well as broader developments and political discussions in the field of business and human rights. Ultimately, all those developments are eclipsed by the emergent conflict between investment and human rights obligations arising out of the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why this chapter closes with a snapshot of the current debate.

Keywords: Investment, Human Rights, ISDS, Reform, COVID-19