Introduction

I count myself among the critics of the first round of proposals for an appellate mechanism for investment disputes. When the idea was first formally floated in 2003 or so, I published articles noting the many difficulties standing in the way of an appellate mechanism and noted that the case had not yet been made for its need. Two important initiatives today provide a different context for an appellate mechanism. Together, the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership and EU-US free trade agreement will join over half the world's gross domestic product under agreements that are likely ...