Essay Question:
Students will be expected to write a paper of a maximum of 2,500 words including footnotes but
excluding the bibliography. The topic of the paper will be discussed in the last class and the
submission deadline will be 4 weeks after the end of the course (September 24) submitted via
Moodle.
Please choose one of the following reforms: (1) increasing transparency or (2) creating an
appellate system.
With your chosen reform please write, in no more than 2,500 words, a critical analysis of the
proposed reform to investor-state arbitration. In your analysis please include
(A) an explanation
of why
(1) low transparency/confidentiality or
(2) a no-appeal structure has developed as a
characteristic of investor-state arbitration in the context of the history and creation of the field of
investor-state arbitration;
(B) why people are advocating for the chosen reform; and
(C) whether
you think the reform should happen taking into consideration the nature and characteristics of
investor-state arbitration as a whole.
Please specify at the top of your paper which reform you are choosing and whether you worked
with one other person or by yourself. Please do not write your name or the name of your partner.
The following are recommended readings to begin your research for the essay assignment.
Transparency:
• Daniel Barstow Jr Magraw & Niranjali Manel Amerasinghe, “Transparency and Public
Participation in Investor-State Arbitration,” 15 ILSA J Int’l & Comp L 337 (2009)
• Stuart Boyarsky, “Transparency in Investor-State Arbitration,” 21 Disp Resol Mag 34
(2015)
• James Fry & Odysseas Repousis, “Towards a New World for Investor-State Arbitration
Through Transparency” 48 NYU Journal of International Law and Politics 795 (2016)
Appellate Mechanism:
• Ian Laird & Rebecca Askew, “Finality versus Consistency: Does Investor-State
Arbitration Need an Appellate System,” 7 J App Prac & Process 285 (2005)
• Barry Appleton, “The Song Is Over: Why It’s Time to Stop Talking about an
International Investment Arbitration Appellate Body,” 107 Am Soc’y Int’l L Proc 23
(2013)
• David Gantz, “An Appellate Mechanism for Review of Arbitral Decisions in Investor-
State Disputes: Prospects and Challenges,” 39 Vand J Transnat’l L 39 (2006)