Le risque de requêtes de RDIE fondées sur les lois nationales sur l’investissement : Une autre « épée de Damoclès » suspendue au-dessus des mesures gouvernementales liées à la COVID-19 ?

The document warns that national investment laws can act as a mechanism for foreign investors to initiate international arbitration against states, potentially challenging COVID-19 emergency measures. It highlights that many developing countries included ISDS consent in their laws following World Bank 'best practice' advice, creating a broad exposure to costly claims. The authors suggest that governments review and potentially suspend these provisions to maintain policy space during the pandemic.

• National investment laws can provide the necessary consent for international arbitration, allowing foreign investors to bypass national courts and have international tribunals interpret domestic law. According to UNCTAD data, there are 125 national investment codes, 102 of which are in developing countries; of these, 49 contain international arbitration provisions and 40 explicitly establish state consent to international arbitration.
• ISDS based on national laws presents a higher risk of exposure than treaty-based ISDS because it can apply to all foreign investors regardless of their country of origin, rather than being limited to parties of a specific treaty.
• The risk to governments is increased when national laws incorporate controversial treaty-style standards, such as 'fair and equitable treatment' (FET) and 'indirect expropriation'. These standards can create parallel legal norms to a country's constitutional and administrative laws and often lead to higher compensation amounts than national courts would award.
• Many developing countries adopted these risky ISDS provisions because international organizations, specifically the World Bank, promoted them as 'international best practices' in a 2010 handbook. Research indicates that countries receiving such reform advice were 650% more likely to adopt international arbitration laws.
• While there were no known COVID-19 related ISDS claims based specifically on national investment laws as of the writing, the authors warn that investors may seek to recover losses through these channels. They note that as of late April 2020, there were at least 30 known ISDS cases based solely on investment laws, including 14 cases where the Kyrgyz government was the defendant.
• To mitigate risks, governments can modify or suspend ISDS provisions in their national laws without needing the consent of other states, unlike treaty modifications. Recommended actions include temporary suspension of ISDS provisions or creating clarifications regarding government rights during states of emergency.

APA

Nikièma, H. S., & Maina, N. (2020). Le risque de requêtes de RDIE fondées sur les lois nationales sur l’investissement : Une autre « épée de Damoclès » suspendue au-dessus des mesures gouvernementales liées à la COVID-19 ? International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-10/isds-claims-investment-laws-fr.pdf

Chicago

Nikièma, H. Suzy, and Nyaguthii Maina. Le risque de requêtes de RDIE fondées sur les lois nationales sur l’investissement : Une autre « épée de Damoclès » suspendue au-dessus des mesures gouvernementales liées à la COVID-19 ? International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2020. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-10/isds-claims-investment-laws-fr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nikièma |first1=H. Suzy |last2=Maina |first2=Nyaguthii |title=Le risque de requêtes de RDIE fondées sur les lois nationales sur l’investissement : Une autre « épée de Damoclès » suspendue au-dessus des mesures gouvernementales liées à la COVID-19 ? |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=September 2020 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-10/isds-claims-investment-laws-fr.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nikima2020risque, author = {Nikièma, H. Suzy and Maina, Nyaguthii}, title = {{Le risque de requêtes de RDIE fondées sur les lois nationales sur l’investissement : Une autre « épée de Damoclès » suspendue au-dessus des mesures gouvernementales liées à la COVID-19 ?}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-10/isds-claims-investment-laws-fr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }