Video

Comparative Approaches to Compensation Under International Investment Law: An interview with Esmé Shirlow

An interview with Esmé Shirlow, Associate Professor at the Australian National University, about her forthcoming IISD paper comparing approaches used by international investment tribunals to determine the amounts of compensation awarded under international investment treaties.

November 30, 2021

The increasing size of compensation awards made under international investment treaties is drawing greater scrutiny over the approaches that international investment tribunals use to determine these—at times staggering—amounts. One question is: How are things being done elsewhere?

A forthcoming IISD paper seeks to answer this question by comparing how other international courts and tribunals approach the awarding of compensation in international property law cases. These judicial bodies include the Permanent Court of International Justice, the International Court of Justice, and the European Court of Human Rights, among others.

By contrasting these approaches to the approaches used by international investment tribunals, the paper will seek to draw out some key policy considerations for the fundamental reform of compensation principles used in the international investment arbitration space.

In this video, we ask the lead author Esmé Shirlow, Associate Professor at the Australian National University, about the upcoming paper and what lessons could be drawn from this comparative research.