International Economic Law

On November 12, 2015, the European Commission submitted to the United States its Official Proposal for the establishment of an “investment court system” in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) currently under negotiation.[1] The Proposal provides for a two-tiered Tribunal to hear investor-state disputes, consisting of a Tribunal of First Instance and an Appeal Tribunal. For TTIP, the Tribunal is composed of twenty-one members, who are appointed by the European Union and the U.S.

In the Chinese calendar, 2015 was the year of the sheep: a follower rather than a leader. Yet for international investment law, 2015 was a year of transformation, signaling a possible reorientation along a new path. This Insight reflects on some of the key moments reflecting such a transformation or reorientation in treaty law and practice: the draft model bilateral investment treaties of India and Norway, the public release of the agreed text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the European Commission’s proposal for a new investment court.