Kabir A.N. Duggal

Kabir A.N. Duggal
S.J.D. Candidate
kduggal at sjd.law.harvard.edu

Dissertation

Investor-state arbitration has acquired special significance in recent years. On the one hand, the recent US$50 billion award against Russia in the Yukos arbitration demonstrates the far-reaching powers of an investor-state tribunal. On the other hand, there is an ongoing debate relating to the power of three unelected individuals (i.e., the arbitral tribunal) who review decisions of lawfully-elected representatives in matters that touch upon a state’s sovereignty.

The debate is heightened by the view of developing countries that that the system is inequitable? Indeed, one of the recurring themes in international investment law has been the asymmetry between developing and developed countries when it comes to the negotiations of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) or Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Investor-state arbitration is facing a huge backlash and that has led to a variety of proposals for reform. However, the reform process can only be successful if we have insight into more fundamental questions about what the problems are. Once we understand them, the reform process can be appropriately tailored to find solutions.

I propose to investigate issues relating to the ISDS reform process.

Fields of Research and Supervisors

• Business and Human Rights with Professor Gerald L. Neuman, Harvard Law School, Principal Faculty Supervisor
• International Economic Law with Professor Petros Mavroidis, Columbia Law School
• Public International Law and Methodology in International Law with Professor Mark Wu, Harvard Law School

Additional Research Interests

• International Law and Development
• History of International Law
• Third World Approaches to Human Rights Law

Education

• Harvard Law School, S.J.D. Candidate 2019- Present
• Leiden Law School, Ph.D. 2019 (CEPANI Academic Prize for a total of 5000 Euros)
• NYU School of Law, LL.M. 2008 (Hauser Global Scholar & Transitional Justice Fellow)
• University of Oxford, U.K., BCL 2007 (Oxford-Cambridge Society of India Scholar, DHL-Times of India Scholar)
• University of Mumbai, India, LL.B. 2004 (Gold Medal)

Representative Publications

ARTICLES

• “Investment Disputes and Trade Disputes: Never the Twain Shall Meet?,”  New York International Law Review Vol. 34(1) (Spring 2021) (Winner of the Second Prize for the 2021 Albert S. Pergam International Law Writing Competition Award)
• “Mixed Mode Dispute Resolution,”  in Conciliation and Mediation in India (Kluwer Arbitration 2022) (co-author).
• “Business, Human Rights, and International Arbitration: Family, Friend, or Foe?” Dispute Resolution Journal Volume 75(3), available at: https://kluwerlawonline.com/journalarticle/Dispute+Resolution+Journal/75.3/DRJ2021006 (co-author).
• “Different but Similar?” Comparing the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence with the Prague Rules” Arbitration International (August 2021), available at: https://academic.oup.com/arbitration/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/arbint/aiab026/6360017?redirectedFrom=fulltext (co-author).
• “Evolution of 28 U.S.C. § 1783: An Unexplored Tool to Support International Arbitration,” Journal of International Arbitration, Vol 38(4), available at: https://kluwerlawonline.com/journalarticle/Journal+of+International+Arbitration/38.3/JOIA2021024 (co-author).
• “Adding New Ingredients to an Old Recipe: Do ISDS Reforms and New Investment Treaties Support Human Rights?” Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 53(1) (2021) (Co-author), available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2598&context=jil
• “Consequences of crisis and the great re-think: COVID-19’s impact on energy investment, sustainability and the future of international investment agreements” Journal of World Energy Law and Business, Oxford University Press (2021) (Co-author), available at: https://academic.oup.com/jwelb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jwelb/jwab015/6219672?login=true
• “Human Rights and Investor–State Dispute Settlement Reform: Fitting a Square Peg into a Round Hole?” Journal of International Dispute Settlement (2021), (Co-author), available at: https://academic.oup.com/jids/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jnlids/idab006/6168668.
• “The Evolution of Brazilian CFIAs from 2015 to 2020: Like Wine, Does It Get Better with Time?” Journal of International Arbitration, Vol. 38(2), (Co-author), available at: https://kluwerlawonline.com/journalarticle/Journal+of+International+Arbitration/38.2/JOIA2021012.
• “Who Represents Whom? Looking at the Representation of States in Investor-State Arbitration” Revue Des Juristes De Science Po No. 20 (2021), (Co-author), available at: http://www.revuedesjuristesdesciencespo.com/index.php/la-revue-n20/.
• “Policy Brief: Reforming Investor-State Dispute Settlement and Promotion of Trade and Investment Cooperation” Task Force 1 on Trade, Investment, and Growth, T20 Saudi Arabia 2020, (Co-author), available at: https://t20saudiarabia.org.sa/en/briefs/Pages/Policy-Brief.aspx?pb=TF1_PB7.
• “If You are not Part of the Solution, You are the Problem: Article 37 of the EU Charter as a Defence for Climate Change and Environmental Measures in Investor-State Arbitrations” European Investment Law and Arbitration Review (EILAR) 2020, (Co-author), available at: https://brill.com/view/journals/eilo/5/1/article-p265_11.xml (Winner of the Second Prize of the EILAR Essay Competition).
• “A Challenger Approaches: An Assessment Of The Prague Rules On The Efficient Conduct Of Proceedings In International Arbitration” 37 Journal of International Arbitration (Kluwer Law International) No. 1 (2020) (Co-author), available at: https://kluwerlawonline.com/journalarticle/Journal+of+International+Arbitration/37.1/JOIA2020002.
• “Colombia’s 2017 Model IIA: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed” ICSID Review 2019 (Co-author), available at: https://academic.oup.com/icsidreview/article/34/1/224/5609871.
• “The 2019 Netherlands Model BIT: Riding the New Investment Treaty Waves” Arbitration International, September 2019 (Co-author), available at: https://academic.oup.com/arbitration/article-abstract/35/3/347/5576169.
• “Principles of Evidence in Investor-State Arbitration: Exploring the Unexplored, Underappreciated and Ignored” The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management (Chartered Institute of Arbitrators) (Vol. 84(3)) (2018).
• “Evidentiary Principles in Investor-State Arbitration” The American Review of International Arbitration (Vol. 28(1), 2017), available at: http://aria.law.columbia.edu/evidentiary-principles-in-investor-state-arbitration-vol-28-no-1/.
• “The New Brazilian BIT on Cooperation and Facilitation of Investments: A New Approach in Times of Change,” ICSID Review 2017 (Co-author), available at: https://academic.oup.com/icsidreview/article/32/2/404/3798598.
• “The Role of Sovereign Welfare Funds and National Oil Companies in Investment Arbitrations” Global Arbitration Review (2017).
• “The Final 2015 Indian Model BIT: Is this Change the World Wishes to See?,” ICSID Review 2016, (Co-author), available at: https://academic.oup.com/icsidreview/article/32/1/216/2738869 (winner of the Burton Law360 Award for Excellence in Legal Writing).
• “The 2015 Indian Model BIT: Is this Change the World Wishes to See?,” ICSID Review 2015 (Co-author), available at: https://academic.oup.com/icsidreview/article/30/3/729/639385.

BLOG POSTS

• “Article V of the New York Convention: General Canons of Interpretation,” Kluwer Arbitration Practice Plus Series on Enforcement of Awards, available at: https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/kluwerarbitration/practiceplus.
• “Textual, Contextual, Good Faith, or Common Intent: The Need for A Baseline for Evidentiary and Interpretative Standards in International Arbitration,” Kluwer Arbitration Blog, June 6. 2022, available  http://arbitrationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2022/06/06/textual-contextual-good-faith-or-common-intent-the-need-for-a-baseline-for-evidentiary-and-interpretative-standards-in-international-arbitration/ (co-author).
• “2021 in Review: Continued Movement at the Intersection of International Arbitration and Human Rights” Kluwer Arbitration Blog, January 19, 2022, available  http://arbitrationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2022/01/19/2021-in-review-continued-movement-at-the-intersection-of-international-arbitration-and-human-rights/ (co-author).
• “Regime Interaction in Investment Arbitration: Crowded Streets; Are Human Rights Law and International Investment Law Good Neighbors?,” Kluwer Arbitration Blog, January 12, 2022, available http://arbitrationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2022/01/12/regime-interaction-in-investment-arbitration-crowded-streets-are-human-rights-law-and-international-investment-law-good-neighbors/ (co-author)
• “Model Investment Agreements and Human Rights: What can we learn from Recent Efforts?,” The Bulletin: Columbia Journal of Transnational Law (August 2021), available at: https://www.jtl.columbia.edu/bulletin-blog/model-investment-agreements-and-human-rights-what-can-we-learn-from-recent-efforts (co-author).
• “2020 in Review: The Pandemic, Investment Treaty Arbitration, and Human Rights,” Kluwer Arbitration Blog (January 23, 2021), available at: http://arbitrationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2021/01/23/2020-in-review-the-pandemic-investment-treaty-arbitration-and-human-rights/ (co-author).
• “When the Answer is Becoming the Question: Impact of Arbitrations on the Environment,” Kluwer Arbitration Blog (November 29, 2020), available at: http://arbitrationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2020/11/29/when-the-answer-is-becoming-the-question-impact-of-arbitrations-on-the-environment/ (co-author).

BOOKS

• Force Majeure and Hardship in the Asia-Pacific Region (Juris Publishing 2021) (Editor), available at: http://www.jurispub.com/Bookstore/Regions-Jurisdictions/Force-Majeure-in-the-Asia-Pacific-Region.html.
• Principles of Evidence in Public International Law as Applied by Investor-State Tribunals: Burden and Standards of Proof (Brill Nijhoff 2019) (co-author), available at: https://brill.com/view/title/37967.
• Evidence in International Investment Arbitration (Oxford University Press 2018) (co-author), available at: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/evidence-in-international-investment-arbitration-9780198753506?cc=us&lang=en&.

Additional Information

• Languages: English, Hindi

Last Updated: June 13, 2022