The scope for strengthening the procedural rights of third party groups in ISDS
Dickson, Moses O.
Dickson, Moses O.
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The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.
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University of Bradford
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School of Law. Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences
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2023
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Abstract
My research is on third party groups and their lack of involvement in the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) processes despite the negative impact on their livelihood and environment. The absence of third-party rights in ISDS has culminated in a debate, reflected in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) discussions, on the development of a framework for third party access to the ISDS system. This thesis informs the UNCITRAL reform process by interrogating the concept of third-party rights in ISDS and seeking international law solutions to the access problem. States generally rely on the international law system for dispute settlement and the underpinning contracts are invariably governed by international law, which is the focus of this study. Nigeria is used as a case study to evidence the problem which leads to potential solutions from existing and emerging practices from other jurisdictions. The scale of the problem is captured in a May 2023 report by the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission titled: An Environmental Genocide: Counting the Human Cost of Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria. This study finds that existing mechanisms such as, domestic and international courts, amicus curie and counter claims are limited in terms of effectiveness. This thesis recommends the introduction of an African Investment Court under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a solution to the prevailing bottlenecks to third party access to ISDS in Africa.
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PhD