Importing WTO General Exceptions into International Investment Agreements: Proportionality, Myths, and Risks

Abstract

Many states, non- governmental organizations (NGOs), and international organizations have become increasingly concerned about the impact of international investment law on host states’ capacity to regulate in the public interest. These concerns arise in part from the increasing use of investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS), against both developed and developing countries, with all the attendant resource implications regardless of the outcome. The perceived non- transparency and illegitimacy of many aspects of the ISDS framework aggravate these developments. In particular, concerns have arisen from investment treaty tribunals’ sometimes expansive interpretations of investment obligations an..