Evolution of Protectionist Approach for Investor-State Settlement of Investment Disputes: A Critical Analysis

The protection of foreign private investment in the host states remained contesting issue among the stake holders. The development of international law on foreign investment has engendered ‘Protectionist Approach’ for interests of foreign investors by investor-state disputes settlement (ISDS) mechanisms. International organizations have facilitated for the establishment of specialized transnational adjudicative forums for investor-state disputes of foreign investments, which has been emerged to protect the interests of foreign investors. Qualitative method of research has been applied wherein primary and secondary sources have been consulted. This paper examined historical events in backdrop of contesting stakeholders of investment disputes. Contesting interests of developing and developed world has been led to establish an agreement to protect the interest of foreign investors and how treatification process of ICSID Convention ended up in an imbalance protectionist approach to protect the interests of foreign investors in host states.