The Dilemma And Solution Of Host State’s Human Rights Proposal In International Investment Arbitration

With the overall expansion of international investment,the interaction between investment and human rights becomes more and more prominent.Many international investment activities reflect the negative effects on the human rights of residents in host states.Due to the special rights to file investment arbitration against the host states directly entitled by the international investment treaties,foreign investors try to,via investment arbitration,prevent the host country from implementing human rights regulatory measures or formulating stricter human rights policies.However,current international law does not cover the conflict resolution rules between the interests of investors and the human rights of the residents of the host states.In practice,the tribunal is commonly unwilling to accept the argument of the host states based on the protection of human rights,and the arbitration results reflect the tendency to favor investors.Some strong criticism arises among international community regarding the neglect of human rights protection in investment arbitration.There are rising calls for the investment tribunal to consider more the human rights demands of the host country and the human rights obligations of investors.With regard to international investment arbitration,the feasibility of international human rights rules is unclear,and the international legal system of investors’ human rights obligations has not been effectively established.Thus,the conflict of substantive rights has become a rather thorny problem.In order to help the investment arbitration tribunal to better solve the human rights disputes,this paper suggests that human rights clauses should be included in the international investment treaties,and the investor’s human rights obligations system under international law should be improved to clarify the legal responsibilities of investors’ human rights violations.From the perspective of procedure,the host state’s human rights proposals are faced with challenges from the jurisdiction of the tribunal and the lack of human rights protection in the arbitration process.In this regard,this paper believes that the following ways can be used to overcome the procedural difficulties: firstly,establishing special rosters of human rights arbitrators to address concerns about the lack of human rights expertise in investment arbitration tribunals;secondly,improving the transparency of investment arbitration procedures and protecting the public’s right to know about basic information of international investment arbitration;thirdly,improving the Amicus Curiae relevant rules and enhancing the practical role of third-party participation.