Edward Guntrip is a Lecturer in Commercial Law at the University of East Anglia.
Investment law jurisprudence has failed to fully explore the relationship between international investment law and international human rights law (for example, see the cursory examination given in Vivendi v. Argentina para 262 and Pezold v. Zimbabwe Procedural Order 2 paras 57 – 59). As a result, the question of how to approach normative conflict between principles drawn from these regimes remains pertinent when resolving investment disputes with human rights implications. Proportionality analysis has been proposed as a suitable methodology for the resolution of this type of normative conflict (see Schill, ‘Cross-Regime Harmonization through Proportionality Analysis: The Case of International Investment Law, the Law of State Immunity and Human Rights’ 27 ICSID Review – FILJ (2012) 87). The use of proportionality analysis received tacit support when an ICSID arbitral tribunal suggested ‘counterbalancing’ competing obligations drawn from international investment law and international human rights law so as to determine which should be prioritised (see SAUR v. Argentina para 332, although the ICSID arbitral tribunal did not conduct the proposed balancing exercise). Despite support for proportionality analysis, the employment of this methodology by investment tribunals to resolve conflicts between investment protection standards and obligations sourced from international human rights law should be approached with caution. Whilst proportionality analysis is attractive as a concept, its application in instances of inter-regime normative conflict remains problematic.
Proportionality analysis is a legal construct that provides a methodology for decision makers to balance conflicting rights and interests by using a three-stage test. Initially, the decision maker must determine whether the measure giving effect to the interest being prioritised is capable of achieving its objective. If so, the focus turns to whether the measure is necessary to achieve its end, or whether a less restrictive, but equally effective measure could be used. Finally, the decision maker addresses proportionality stricto sensu. This final stage evaluates whether the effects of the measure adopted are excessive compared to the competing right or interest that has been infringed. The decision maker should appraise the weight of each interest before a determination is made regarding whether the means used achieve their aim.
The application of proportionality stricto sensu is the most problematic aspect of proportionality analysis. Read the rest of this entry…
