International Law and Corporate Participation in Times of Armed Conflict

This paper explores the overlapping conceptions of ‘international legal personhood’ in international criminal law (ICL) and international investment law (IIL) in light of the December 2016 ICSID Award of Urbaser v. Argentina. It is an effort to parse out and test potential standards for investor-to-state liability for corporate participation in mass atrocities and human rights violations, particularly in instances of armed conflict. In exploring the question of when a corporation can be held financially liable for human rights violations under international investment law, the paper suggests that Urbaser invites an application of ICL liability doctrines as ‘boundary crossing’ tools that arbitrators can use to further define the contours of international corporate subjectivity to international law.