Investor-State Dispute Settlement Systems in Emerging Mega-Integration Blocs

Emerging mega-integration blocs such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership are evolving outside of the World Trade Organization’s influence. Their most contested features are their investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) systems. This article considers basic features of the ISDS system, the expansion in the number of ISDS cases and the privileged place of corporations vis-à-vis citizens in the law-making process. The arcane private corporations-friendly ISDS system is beyond reparation and it needs to be scrapped. The existing court systems in the self-assured democracies of Europe, North America and Australia are sufficient