Open Meeting on Corporate Courts Held on 15th May 2019
We joined with the Teesside Socialist Campaign Group to have an education meeting on the subject of ISDS (Investor State Dispute Settlement) which is a little known element of many trade deals. We used the Global Justice power point which attempted to explain the serious impact that Corporate Courts can have on the attempts of individual countries to enforce rules that will protect both people and the planet.
ISDS gives special rights to foreign investors that no one else has, not domestic companies and not ordinary people. It allows corporations to bypass national justice systems and undermine the laws of democratic states. The companies have their own justice systems where everything is set up in their favour. The courts do not have to uphold human rights law or international environmental law. There is no appeal process, the cases are held in secret and the arbitrators are not independent, they are private lawyers, paid by the case, so there is a built in financial interest to deliver outcomes favourable to investors. he ISDS system has already undermined civil society struggles in a number of countries. Often governments simply cannot afford to respond to concerns about pollution or deforestation because of the threat of an ISDS case and the huge amount of compensation that companies would be seeking.
After watching the power point we divided into small groups to discuss the case studies that have been sent out. These cases helped to bring the issue to life and it was useful to have practical examples of the way in which ISDS affects poor people who are seemingly far removed from big business.
We then had a discussion and a number of questions were raised.
- Has there ever been an ISDS case against a wealthy country?
- Is Corbyn aware of this issue?
- Why does the ISDS court trump the own state’s laws? There was the suggestion that it would not work in the UK or the US because of their constitutions. Does Germany have a different constitution?
- Is ISDS a tool of foreign policy as well as economic policy?
- What is the IMF or World Bank view.
- How does ISDS link with the UN charter?
We were pleased with the turnout at this meeting and the way in which people engaged with the issue and the debate.