The International Obligations of Human Rights in Bilateral Investment Treaties

Despite periodic efforts to codify the international rules governing flows of foreign investment in a single multilateral instrument, these rules continue to exist in a bewildering patchwork of bilateral and regional treaties which have proliferated since the late 1950s. With regard to the lack of such a comprehensive codified law on foreign investment, Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) came into existence in order to provide more protection for foreign investment. These treaties impose further obligations on the host States in order to ensure the security of the foreign investor. However, the host States are obliged simultaneously to respect and protect human rights. Thus, it seems that the controversy lies in the interplay of fundamental human rights obligations in BITs which have brought negative impacts on human rights issues thereof.