Introduction

In investment treaty arbitration, at the forefront of adjudicators' minds is whether the host State's treatment of foreign investors falls short of the protection afforded by the investment treaties (BITs) in question, according to standards such as fair and equitable treatment and protection from unlawful expropriation. As such, host States' counterclaims on the basis of human rights have not hitherto played a significant role. In two decisions, Urbaser v Argentina and Burlington v Ecuador , the respective host States counterclaimed on the bases of human rights ...