From: <b class="gmail_sendername">David Legge</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:D.Legge@latrobe.edu.au">D.Legge@latrobe.edu.au</a>></span><br><div class="gmail_quote"><br><br><div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-AU">
<div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">One of the most worrying features of the NAFTA-type bilateral and regional trade agreements is the provision for ‘investor protection’ and ‘investor state dispute settlement’ (ISDS).  <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Currently Australia is subject to an ISDS claim by Philip Morris under the Australia Hong Kong Bilateral Investment Treaty because of Australia’s new plain packaging laws for cigarette packs.  See Gleeson and Legge (Sept 14, 2011) ‘<a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/public-health-at-risk-in-trade-talks-20110914-1k94z.html#ixzz1XyOtY2CC" target="_blank">Public health at risk in trade talks</a>’. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investor_state_dispute_settlement" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1F497D">Wikipedia describes ISDS</span></a> in the following terms:  <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt"><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white">Traditionally, dispute settlement under</span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white"> </span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_law" title="International law" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1F497D">international law</span></a></span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white"> </span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white">has involved disputes between</span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white"> </span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_states" title="Nation states" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1F497D">nation states</span></a>. Under customary international law, a foreign investor is required to seek the resolution of such a dispute in the tribunals and/or courts of the country concerned.^{<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investor_state_dispute_settlement#cite_note-0" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1F497D">[1]</span></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investor_state_dispute_settlement#cite_note-1" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1F497D">[2]</span></a>}</span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white"> </span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white">Over 2000 Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) currently exist and they provide foreign investors with a direct means for redress against states for breaches of breaches of such treaties. A notable example is Chapter 11 of the</span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white"> </span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Free_Trade_Agreement" title="North American Free Trade Agreement" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1F497D">North American Free Trade Agreement</span></a></span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white"> </span></span><span><span style="color:#1F497D;background:white">(NAFTA). NAFTA Chapter 11 allows investors of one NAFTA party (Canada, United States or Mexico) to bring claims directly against the government of another NAFTA party before an international panel of arbitrators.<u></u><u></u></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US">For those who are concerned about the operation of these provisions a fantastic new website has been created by Gus Van Harten from Osgoode Hall Law School in Canada:  <a href="http://www.iiapp.org" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1F497D">www.iiapp.org</span></a>  <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US"> <u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US">The site offers:<u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p>
<u></u><span style="font-family:Symbol;color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">        </span></span></span><u></u><span style="color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US">access to a database of investment treaty cases<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div><div><p><u></u><span style="font-family:Symbol;color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">        </span></span></span><u></u><span style="color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US">an indication of the policy areas to which cases appear to relate<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div><div><p><u></u><span style="font-family:Symbol;color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">        </span></span></span><u></u><span style="color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US">the appointment records of individual arbitrators<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div><div><p><u></u><span style="font-family:Symbol;color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">        </span></span></span><u></u><span style="color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US">other information and commentary on the system.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US"> <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US">Consider for example: the </span><i><span style="color:#1F497D">Centurion Health v Canada</span></i><span style="color:#1F497D"> case </span><span style="color:#1F497D">in which </span><span style="color:#1F497D">t</span><span style="color:#1F497D">he claimant, a U.S. national, and his company Centurion Health sued Canada under NAFTA Chapter 11. The lawsuit arose after the claimant’s plans to open a private health care facility in Vancouver, Canada, fell through. The centre was to offer private surgical services ranging from cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery to general surgery. According to the claimant, federal, provincial, and municipal measures had prevented the project from proceeding. The claimant argued that Canada had breached several NAFTA Chapter 11 provisions, including national treatment and the minimum standard of treatment, and sought (U.S.) $160,000,000 (plus interest and costs) in compensation. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">This was the first case in which NAFTA Chapter 11 was used to challenge the <i>Canada Health Act </i>and, by extension, publicly-funded health care services in Canada. This case demonstrates that public health care is open to investment treaty claims, especially as some provincial governments move to increased privatization of health care services.</span><span style="color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D" lang="EN-US"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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