The Multiple-Ministry Paradigm in Investor-State Dispute Settlement

Abstract

Investor-State disputes generally begin as a difference between a local business (the investment) and the ministry responsible for the sector in which that business operates. In many governments, the situation changes when the business owner asserts a claim under an investment treaty.The assertion of the international claim can bring the dispute within the competence, or the sphere of interest, of one or more ministries in addition to the one with sectoral responsibility.This article refers to this scenario as the multiple-ministry paradigm. The accompanying injection of new actors into government decision-making has a number of implications for the design of a successful investor-State mediation process, which are explored in this article.