DEMYSTIFYING INVESTOR-STATE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
– Investor-State Dispute Settlement, a legal provision in Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) or other International Investment Agreements that gives investors a right to call for arbitration
with a state, has recently become the centre of controversy in a debate over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Critics argue that such a provision is either illegitimate, unnecessary, and/or does not have any positive influence on flows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). More radical critics argue that ISDS is a provision that allows big companies to sue governments when they have made democratic choices with negative consequences for companies.