Trade Agreements: Dispute Resolution
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the UK's commitments under investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms on (a) environmental and (b) human rights protections in partner countries.
Answered by Mr Douglas Alexander
The UK is party to 83 Bilateral Investment Treaties and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership that contain Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).
ISDS provides an independent means to resolve disputes with states where investors believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation. ISDS does not remove governments’ right to regulate in the public interest, including with respect to the environment and human rights.
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