Balancing of Economic Law and Human Rights by the European Court of Justice

The book offers a systematic analysis of the interaction between international investment law, investment arbitration, and human rights, such as the role of national and international courts, investor-state arbitral tribunals and alternative jurisdictions, the risks of legal and jurisdictional fragmentation, the human rights dimensions of investment law and arbitration, and the relationships of substantive and procedural ‘principles of justice’ to international investment law. Part I summarizes the main conclusions of the twenty-four book chapters and places them into the broader context of ‘principles of justice’, ‘global administrative law’, and of ‘multilevel constitutionalism’ that may be relevant for judicial ‘administration of justice’ in international economic law and investor-state arbitration. Part II includes contributions clarifying the ‘constitutional dimensions’ of transnational investment disputes and investor-state arbitration, as reflected in the increasing number of arbitral awards and amicus curiae submissions addressing human rights concerns. Part III addresses the need for ‘principle-oriented ordering’ and ‘normative congruence’ of diverse national, regional and worldwide legal regimes, focusing on the pertinent dispute settlement practices and legal interpretation methods of regional economic courts and human rights courts. Part IV includes twelve case studies on potential human rights dimensions of specific ‘protection standards’, applicable law, procedural law issues, and specific fundamental rights. These case-studies discuss not only the still limited examples of human rights discourse in investor-state arbitral awards; they also probe the potential legal relevance of investor-state arbitration for the judicial recognition, interpretation, and ‘balancing’ of ‘primary rules’ in the light of ‘principles of justice’, as defined by national and international law.