Outcome Report of Roundtable on International Investment Regime and Access to Justice

On October 18, 2017, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights  and the CCSI co-hosted a one-day roundtable on the impacts of the international investment regime on access to justice for investment-affected individuals and communities.

Held at Columbia University in New York, the roundtable brought together 32 individuals from civil society organizations, communities affected by investments at the heart of investor-state claims, governments, academia, donor organizations, UN mandate holders, and other stakeholder groups. The roundtable provided an opportunity for participants to: (i) explore and assess the specific impacts of international investment agreements and investor-state dispute settlement on access to justice, both within and outside the investment regime; (ii) discuss and analyze options for reform of the international investment regime and improvement of human rights enforcement mechanisms to determine whether they address the specific impacts explored; and (iii) identify a preliminary set of recommendations to address implications of the current investment regime for access to justice. Following the roundtable, key takeaways from the discussion were discussed during a session at the 6th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights on November 29th, 2017.

This outcome document summarizes roundtable discussions. A shorter briefing note provides an overview of key points.