This publication contains the papers and proceedings of the sixth annual Juris conference on international investment arbitration which was dedicated to the question of investment protection in the Americas. The investment regime is currently undergoing a debate between those who perceive the regime to be broken and those who perceive it to work fine. This debate is best represented by the current trends in the Americas and this makes the theme of the conference both timely and important.
Inspired by CAFTA, the authors engaged the ongoing debate of whether there is a need for mechanisms for early disposition of investor-state disputes. The argument on whether a special investment court for the Americas was necessary was also undertaken. It revisited whether recent NAFTA and ICSID arbitral decisions have created a clear divide between trade, commercial and investment disputes. Finally the Panelists debated whether the authoritative interpretation of treatment standards in the context of NAFTA could be a tool to be emulated more broadly in investment protection agreements.
The four questions that the Conference addressed include:
