Public-Private Partnerships: No Investment without an Investor-State Dispute Settlement or Investment Court System

Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) is arguably a neutral procedure that is used for international arbitration. Similar to other types of labour, judicial or commercial arbitration, ISDS is also designed to resolve conflicts through the use of impartial approaches that are founded in law. This arbitration alternative has become increasingly commonplace in recent years and there are currently more than 3,000 such ISDS agreements in place around the world. It is important to note, though, that ISDS is an umbrella term that subsumes a number of different types of approaches, varying in terms of process and scope. The role played by ISDS in problems solving has made entities claim that there is no international investment without ISDS. This paper seeks to examine the role of ISDS to resolve problems in procurement contracts such as PPP.