State Mediation

• Part 1 takes place on 10 November 2022 from 10 am - 2 pm CET
• Part 2 takes place on 17 November 2022 from 10 am - 2 pm CET

Content

This course provides a survey of mediation and conciliation involving States.

The virtues of mediation are no less manifest in disputes with State parties. States, like businesses and people, have little to gain in protracted, adversarial proceedings that harm relationships with State and private partners. Yet disputes with States have distinctive features. The pressures of public accountability and transparency, for instance, may weigh more heavily on States than businesses. Responsibility for dispute management within a State may be shared by different governmental bodies with different objectives. States may expect more formality in process, and State agents may face political pressures that militate against negotiated settlements.

An appreciation of the features of State-related disputes may make mediators more effective when working with State parties and public authorities. To this end, we consider the rules, instruments, and institutions that support investor-State mediation and State-State mediation. We examine the nature of State acts and explore how public interests can be reconciled with private interests in mediated negotiations. We also evaluate how third-party interests, including those espoused by civil society organizations, can be accounted for in State-related mediations.