Multilateral Investment Court Will Empower Corporations at Expense of People and Environment

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) argues that the proposed Multilateral Investment Court (MIC), championed by the European Union and Canada, fails to address the fundamental flaws of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and instead prioritizes corporate rights over public interest, human rights, and environmental protections.

• The proposed Multilateral Investment Court (MIC) focuses exclusively on institutional reforms of dispute resolution rather than addressing the core issues of investor treaties. It does not modify problematic treaty requirements or mandate that investors comply with obligations like the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to gain court access.
• The MIC is designed to perpetuate inequality by allowing only investors to bring claims against states, while excluding governments, domestic investors, civil society, individual citizens, communities, and trade unions from the process. Furthermore, the current proposal does not include provisions for amicus briefs.
• Decisions within the MIC would be based on international arbitration law, which the author claims elevates investor rights over other applicable legal frameworks, including domestic and international laws regarding labor, the environment, and human rights.
• CIEL suggests that for the MIC to provide meaningful gains, it should refuse jurisdiction to investors who violate laws, limit claims to uncompensated direct expropriation of real property, deny claims against public interest measures, and require the exhaustion of domestic remedies.

APA

Hughes, L. (2017). Multilateral Investment Court Will Empower Corporations at Expense of People and Environment. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/multilateral-investment-court-will-empower-corporations-expense-people-environment/

Chicago

Hughes, Layla. Multilateral Investment Court Will Empower Corporations at Expense of People and Environment. Center for International Environmental Law, 2017. https://www.ciel.org/multilateral-investment-court-will-empower-corporations-expense-people-environment/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Hughes |first1=Layla |title=Multilateral Investment Court Will Empower Corporations at Expense of People and Environment |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=5 July 2017 |url=https://www.ciel.org/multilateral-investment-court-will-empower-corporations-expense-people-environment/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{hughes2017multilateral, author = {Hughes, Layla}, title = {{Multilateral Investment Court Will Empower Corporations at Expense of People and Environment}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2017}, month = jul, url = {https://www.ciel.org/multilateral-investment-court-will-empower-corporations-expense-people-environment/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }