The Moderator and Speakers for the third panel of the Congress, scheduled to take place in the afternoon on Monday 16 April, will be:
Panel 3: Arbitration Challenged I: Reforming Substantive Obligations in Investment Treaties and Conditions of Access to Investment Arbitration
Moderator: Meg Kinnear, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Canada)
Speakers: Christophe Bondy, Cooley LLP (Canada); Max Bonnell, White & Case (Australia); Melinda Hodgson, Foley Hoag LLP New York (USA); Won Kidane, Seattle University School of Law (US); Wenhua Shan, Xi’an Jiaotong University (China)
Session description: The last decade has witnessed the introduction of new investment instruments and model treaty texts designed to address concerns about the scope and interpretation of substantive and jurisdictional provisions in older-style investment treaties. This panel will assess where things stand, as of April 2018, in the movement to reform the content of treaties and free trade agreements. Has the backlash against older-style treaties resulted in the dramatic changes that critics sought to achieve? What are the broader implications of those changes for both the rule of law and the process of achieving fair and expeditious resolution of disputes? Finally, which way is the pendulum now swinging—and what new initiatives are under way?
