Global Public Interest in International Investment Law

The strengths of international investment law - above all, a strong focus on investor interests and an effective adjudication and enforcement system - also entail its weaknesses: it runs the danger of impeding or even sanctioning the host states' legitimate regulatory interests and ignoring other fields of public international law. How does it cope with public interest concerns such as human rights, the environment or the fight against corruption? At the heart of this book lies a fresh approach towards a general theory of such global public interest considerations in the investment realm. Delineating how and why those considerations matter, and why the current system does not accommodate them properly, Andreas Kulick fleshes out general principles and customary international law as defences the host state may raise against alleged investor rights infringements and promotes proportionality as the appropriate balancing mechanism.

1. Introduction; Part I. Towards the Global Public Interest Theory: 2. The 'internationalization' of international investment law; 3. Considering current approaches dealing with public interest considerations in the investment regime; 4. The Global Public Interest theory; 5. How to balance the conflicting interests: proportionality analysis; Part II. Global Public Interest in International Investment Case Law: 6. International investment law and the environment; 7. Human rights and investment - friends or foes?; 8. Corruption and other irregularities; 9. Concluding remarks.

Andreas Kulick delineates a general theory of how public interest concerns such as human rights or environmental protection should be included in the realm of international investment law. This book serves both scholars and practitioners by stirring the academic debate and providing practical guidance for implementation.

Andreas Kulick is an associate at the public international law and investment arbitration practice group of Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton in Paris and is admitted to the German bar. He studied in Freiburg, Geneva (HEID), Berlin (Humboldt University) and New York (New York University). Dr Kulick has been a visiting fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law and holds a PhD in public international law from the University of Tübingen. His main research interests are public international law, international investment law and arbitration as well as comparative constitutional law.