Incorporating human rights provisions into bilateral investment treaties: a quest for possibilities Online publication date: Sat, 20-Sep-2014
by Iman Prihandono
International Journal of Public Law and Policy (IJPLAP), Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012
Abstract: Incorporating human rights concerns into bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have continuously been proposed by many scholars. The main objective of this proposal is to strengthen the legal accountability of TNCs for human rights violations. This article analyses the possibilities for an agreement between home and host countries to incorporate human rights provisions in BITs. It identifies a number of indicators whose presence can increase the likelihood of the incorporation of human rights provisions in BITs. These are: 1) the level of human rights performance, democracy, and participation of civil society; 2) effective domestic enforcement; 3) stable investment environment; 4) broad investment sectors. This article demonstrates that the proposed framework can possibly materialise between countries when these four indicators are present. In particular, host countries with these indicators have more power to demand the inclusion of human rights obligations into BITs. More importantly, with these indicators in hand, TNCs' resistance to the proposed BITs can be minimised.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Public Law and Policy (IJPLAP):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com