Balancing Legitimate Expectations and Regulatory Freedom under Article 10(1) Energy Charter Treaty: Lessons from the Green Energy Tribunals
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My interest in writing about international investment law piqued during a Public International Law lecture in second year, where the ‘law of international investment’ occupied a full one-and-a-half minutes of one slide. Nevertheless, it immediately appealed to me for two reasons: firstly because of its relevance to international relations in South Asia in the context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and secondly, for its unique procedure for investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Shortly afterwards, I could add a third, personal reason for my engagement with the subject as a Sri Lankan: Sri Lanka has been intimately involved with the development of investment law, both as it was involved in the first treaty-based investor-state dispute settlement (AAPL v Sri Lanka, a fascinating case involving a unacknowledged massacre and a prawn farm) and because it produced a number of the pioneering critical perspectives on investment law.
The complexity of these critical commentaries, highlighting the opacity, structural defects and neo-colonial characteristics of the ISDS system, make investment law a particularly interesting and relevant area for academic research. The Renewable Energy cases provide a unique opportunity to reexamine these commentaries as they concern investments of a progressive nature (solar energy) initiated by European citizens against European States.
Since graduating from Durham I have remained engaged with this subject as a legal intern with the United Nations Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), where I have been closely involved in assisting the historic state-led deliberations of Working Group III on structural reform of the ISDS system.
-Rahul Wijewardane, Author
Introduction
This dissertation will consider Article 9 jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. Article 9 guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the right to manifestation of religion. This dissertation will focus on Article 9 jurisprudence revolving around manifestation of religion through dress and symbols. It will evaluate whether there is a trend in the case law for the Court to be selective in awarding its protection to individuals in respect of this aspect of Article 9.
This dissertation explores the rising prominence of the climate change objectives and the green agenda that has given new impetus for re-examining the balance struck between investor’s interests and the regulatory right of states. Through an examination of the Article 10(1) Energy Charter Treaty as an prominent multi-lateral treaty, this dissertation examines presents a picture of the law of investment protective standards that highlights areas of enduring irregularity.
