Corporations and Crimes Against Humanity: Financial Liability Through ISDS?

This Chapter explores the overlapping conceptions of “international legal personhood” in international criminal law and international investment law in light of the December 2016 International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Award of Urbaser v Argentina. It is an effort to parse out and test potential standards for investor-to-State liability for corporate participation in mass atrocities and human rights violations, particularly in instances of armed conflict. In exploring the question of when a corporation can be held financially liable for human rights violations under international investment law, this Chapter suggests that Urbaser invites an application of ICL liability doctrines as “boundary crossing” tools that arbitrators can use to further define the contours of corporate subjectivity to international law.