Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-01T13:21:39.763Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cultural Heritage and International Investment Law: A Stormy Relationship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2008

Valentina Sara Vadi
Valentina Sara Vadi
Affiliation:
European University Institute, Florence, Italy. E-mail: valentina.vadi@eui.eu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between international investment law and the protection of cultural heritage. Two questions arise in this connection. First, are investment agreements compatible with states' obligations to protect cultural heritage? Second, if internal measures aimed at protecting cultural heritage can be challenged by foreign investors, is mixed arbitration a suitable forum to protect public interests Indeed, it seems that the regime established according to investment treaties does not strike an appropriate balance between the different interests concerned. After giving a brief look at the legal framework protecting foreign investments, the conflict areas between investment treaty provisions and national cultural policies are explored through an empirical analysis of the recent arbitral jurisprudence concerning cultural heritage. This paper holds that jurisprudential balancing may not provide an adequate protection to cultural heritage; thus, cultural exceptions should be included in investment agreements.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , February 2008 , pp. 1 - 24
Copyright
© 2008 International Cultural Property Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Almqvist, Jessica. Human Rights, Culture and the Rule of Law. Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing, 2005.
Aloisi, Silvia. “Gas War Rages in Sicilian Baroque Valley.” Reuters, June 7, 2007.
Arden, H. Dream-Keepers: A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal Australia. New York: Harper Collins, 1994.
Bercovitch, Jacob. Studies in International Mediation (Advances in Foreign Policy Analysis). New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
Birnbaum, Charles A. Protecting Cultural Landscapes: Planning, Treatment and Management of Historic Landscapes. 36 Preservation Brief, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, available at http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief36.htm (accessed on September 24, 2007).
Brower, Charles N., and Lee A. Steven, “Who Then Should Judge? Developing the International Rule of Law Under NAFTA Chapter 11.” Chicago Journal of International Law 2 (2001): 193ff.Google Scholar
Brower, Charles, and Eckhard Hellbeck. “The Implications of National and International Environmental Obligations for Foreign Investments Protection Standards, Including Valuation: A Report From the Front Lines.” In International Investments and Protection of the Environment: The Role of Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, The International Bureau of Permanent Court of Arbitration, 21. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2001.
Bürhing-Uhle, C., L. Kirchhoff, and G. Scherer. Arbitration and Mediation in International Business. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2006.
Carroll, Eileen, and Karl Mackie. International Mediation: The Art of Business Diplomacy. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 1999.
Coe, Jack Jr., and Noah Rubins. “Regulatory Expropriation and the Tecmed Case: Context and Contributions.” In International Investment Law and Arbitration: Leading Cases from ICSID, NAFTA Bilateral Treaties and Customary International Law, edited by Todd Weiler. London: Cameron, May 2005.
Collier, J., and Vaughan Lowe. The Settlement of Disputes in International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Commission, Jeffery. “Precedent in Investment Treaty Arbitration A Citation Analysis of a Developing Jurisprudence” Journal of International Arbitration 24, no. 2 (2007): 129–58.Google Scholar
Crocker, Chester A., Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamela R. Aall Herding Cats: Multiparty Mediation in a Complex World. Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace, 1999.
Crocker, Chester A. Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases. Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2004.
De Mestral, Armand. “NAFTA Dispute Settlement: Creative Experiment or Confusion?” In Regional Trade Agreements and the WTO Legal System, edited by L. Bartels and F. Ortino. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, 343–17.
Depoorter, Ben. “Law in the Shadow of Bargaining” Working paper, available at http://pantheon.yale.edu/∼bwd8/ (accessed January 10, 2008).
Douglas, Z. “The Hybrid Foundations of Investment Treaty Arbitration.” British Yearbook of International Law 151 no. 74 (2003): 221–37.Google Scholar
Eviatar, Daphne. “A Toxic Trade-Off.” Washington Post, August 14, 2005.
Flood, Josephine. Archaeology of Dreamtime. Australia: Collins Publishers, 1989.
Fowler, Peter. “Cultural Landscape: Great Concept, Pity About the Phrase.” In The Cultural Landscape. Planning for a Sustainable Partnership between People and Place, edited by R. Kelly, L. Macinnes, D. Thackray, and P. Whitbourne, 64–82. London: ICOMOS, 2001.
Fowler, Peter. “World Heritage Cultural Landscapes, 1992–2002: A Review and Prospect.” In Cultural Landscapes: The Challenges of Conservation. World Heritage Papers, 17 no 7. Paris: UNESCO, 2002.
Garner, Bryan A., and Henry Campbell Black (eds.). Black's Law Dictionary, 7th ed. St. Paul, MN: West Group, 1999.
Gast, Kristen M. “Environmental Justice and Indigenous Peoples in the United States: An International Human Rights Analysis” International Law and Contemporary Problems 14 (2004–2005): 253ff.Google Scholar
Global Arbitration Review. “Ecuador Threatens Partial Withdrawal from ICSID,” Global Arbitration Review, October 12, 2007.
Hollander-Blumoff, Rebecca. “Legal Research on Negotiation” International Negotiation 10, no. 1 (2005).Google Scholar
Ingerson, Alice E. “What Are Cultural Landscapes?” Institute for Cultural Landscape Studies, Harvard University, 2000 available at http://www.icls.harvard.edu/language/whatare.html (accessed September 24, 2007).
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes of the World Bank. “Bolivia Submits a Notice Under Article 71 of the ICSID Convention,” news release, May 16, 2007.
Jaksic, Aleksandar. “Procedural Guarantees of Human Rights in Arbitration Proceedings A Still Unsettled Problem?” Journal of International Arbitration 24, no. 2 (2007): 159–72.Google Scholar
Kaufmann-Kohler, Gabrielle. “Arbitral Precedent: Dream, Necessity or Excuse?” Arbitration International 23, no. 3 (2007): 357–78.Google Scholar
Kibel, Paul S., and Jonathan R. Schutz. “Rio Grande Designs: Texans' NAFTA Water Claim Against Mexico.” Berkeley Journal of International Law 25 (2007): 228–67.Google Scholar
Knahr, Christina. “Transparency, Third Party Participation and Access to Documents in International Investment Arbitration” Arbitration International 23, no. 2 (2007): 327–55.Google Scholar
Mann, Howard. The Final Decision in Methanex v. United States: Some New Wine in Some New Bottles. Winnipeg, Manitoba: IISD, 2005.
Mann, Howard. Who Owns “Your” Water? Reclaiming Water as a Public Good under International Trade and Investment Law. Winnipeg, Manitoba: IISD, 2003.
Orrego Vicuña, Francisco. “Regulatory Authority and Legitimate Expectations: Balancing the Rights of the State and the Individual under International Law in a Global Society” International Law Forum du droit international 5 (2003): 188–97.Google Scholar
Plantey, Alain. International Negotiation in the Twenty-First Century. Cavendish: Routledge, 2007.
Raiffa, H. The Art and Science of Negotiation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982.
Reed, A. W. Aboriginal Fables and Legendary Tales. French Forest, Australia: AH & AW Reed PTV, 1965
Reuters. “Sicilian Valley Wins Battle Against Gas Wells,” Reuters, June 17, 2007 available at http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1759389920070617 (accessed January 10, 2008).
Sacred Sites International Foundation “The 2005 Most Endangered Sacred Site List” available at http://www.sacred-sites.org/preservation/endangered_most.html (accessed September 24, 2007).
Satterwhite, Margaret, and Deena Hurwitz. “The Right of Indigenous Peoples to Meaningful Consent in Extractive Industry Projects.” Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law 22 (2005): 1ff.Google Scholar
Sauer, Carl O. “The Morphology of Landscape.” University of California Publications in Geography 2 (1925): 19–54.Google Scholar
Schreuer, Christopher H. “The Concept of Expropriation under the ETC and other Investment Protection Treaties.” Transnational Dispute Management 2, no. 3 (2005).Google Scholar
Schreuer, Christopher H. “Fair and Equitable Treatment in Arbitral Practice.” The Journal of World Investment and Trade 6, no. 3 (2005): 357–86.Google Scholar
Sornarajah, M. The International Law of Foreign Investments, 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Sornarajah, M. “Power and Justice in Foreign Investment Arbitration.” Journal of International Arbitration 14 (1997): 103, 139–40.Google Scholar
Spiegel Online. “A Holy Journey: Church Moved to Make Way for Coal Mine,” Spiegel Online, October 24, 2007 available at http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,513286,00.html (accessed January 10, 2008).
Tienhaara, Kyla. “What You Don't Know Can Hurt You: Investor-State Disputes and The Protection of the Environment in Developing Countries.” Global Environmental Politics 6, no. 4 (2006): 73–100.Google Scholar
Turk, Jeffrey. “Compensation for ‘Measures Tantamount to Expropriation’ Under NAFTA: What It means and Why It Matters.” International Law & Management Review 1, no. 41 (2005): 41–78.Google Scholar
Vadi, Valentina. “Access to Essential Medicines and International Investment Law: The Road Ahead.” Journal of World Investment and Trade 8, no. 4 (2007): 505–32.Google Scholar
Vadi, Valentina. “Intangible Heritage: Traditional Medicine and Knowledge Governance” Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice 2, no. 10 (2007): 682–92.Google Scholar
Vadi, Valentina. “Transplanting Precedent to a Secret Garden? A Blossoming Landscape.” In Transnational Dispute Management. Forthcoming 2008.
Van Harten, Gus. “The Public-Private Distinction in the International Arbitration of Individual Claims Against the State.” International & Comparative Law Quarterly 56, no. 2 (2007): 371–93.Google Scholar
Van Harten, Gus. Investment Treaty Arbitration and Public Law. Oxford University Press, 2007.
Vincent, Steven. “Indian Givers.” In Who Owns the Past? Cultural Policy, Cultural Property, and the Law, edited by Kate Fitz Gibbon. London: Rutgers University Press, 2005.
Weeramantry, Christopher G. “Challenges Facing Developing Countries.” Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law 16, no. 3 (2005): 1–20.Google Scholar
Weiler Todd. “Good Faith and Regulatory Transparency: The Story of Metalclad v. Mexico.” In International Investment Law and Arbitration: Leading Cases from ICSID, NAFTA Bilateral Treaties and Customary International Law edited by Todd Weiler. London: Cameron, May 2005.
World Health Organization. “Why is Tobacco a Public Health Priority?” Geneva: World Health Organization, 2007. Available at http://www.who.int/tobacco/health_priority/en/print.html (accessed February 17, 2007).
Ziegler, Katja S. “Cultural Heritage and Human Rights.” In Alberico Gentili: la salvaguardia dei beni culturali nel diritto internazionale, edited by Centro Internazionale di studi Gentiliani. Milan: Giuffré, forthcoming. Electronic copy available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1002620/ (accessed January 10, 2008).