Exhaustion of Local Remedies in International Investment Law

The document examines the role of the exhaustion of local remedies (ELR) rule in international investment law, noting that while it was largely dispensed with through investment treaties and arbitral rulings, some states are now reintroducing mandatory requirements to pursue domestic legal redress before initiating international arbitration to empower their domestic legal systems.

• The customary international law rule of exhaustion of local remedies (ELR) is designed to protect state sovereignty by requiring individuals to seek redress within a state's domestic legal system before starting international proceedings.
• In international investment law, the ELR rule has been largely bypassed because states often provide advance consent to international arbitration in treaties, and arbitral tribunals have generally allowed investors to skip local remedies even when treaties lack explicit waivers.
• There is a recent trend where several states are reintroducing mandatory requirements to exhaust local remedies in their investment treaties to prevent the bypassing of domestic legal systems and to empower them.

APA

Brauch,, M. D. B. D. (2017). Exhaustion of Local Remedies in International Investment Law. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/guide/iisd-best-practices-series-exhaustion-local-remedies-international-investment

Chicago

Brauch,, Martin Dietrich Brauch,Martin Dietrich. Exhaustion of Local Remedies in International Investment Law. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2017. https://www.iisd.org/publications/guide/iisd-best-practices-series-exhaustion-local-remedies-international-investment.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brauch, |first1=Martin Dietrich Brauch,Martin Dietrich |title=Exhaustion of Local Remedies in International Investment Law |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=31 January 2017 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/guide/iisd-best-practices-series-exhaustion-local-remedies-international-investment |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brauch2017exhaustion, author = {Brauch,, Martin Dietrich Brauch,Martin Dietrich}, title = {{Exhaustion of Local Remedies in International Investment Law}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2017}, month = jan, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/guide/iisd-best-practices-series-exhaustion-local-remedies-international-investment}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }