Third-Party Rights in Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Options for Reform

CCSI, along with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), submitted a document to UNCITRAL outlining potential reform options concerning third party rights and ISDS. The submission: builds on work highlighting the impact of ISDS on access to justice for third parties; elaborates on how investor-state arbitrations can affect third parties; and offers examples of  procedural tools that states could use to better safeguard those third parties’ rights. It was made in response to an invitation for submissions by states and other stakeholders on reform options (see para. 83 of document A/CN.9/970, Report of Working Group III on the 37th Session), which will inform UNCITRAL’s efforts around identifying and prioritizing particular solutions that UNCITRAL will develop in the next phase of its work.