Domestic Courts as Transnational Actors in International Investment Law: A Canadian Perspective

This chapter examines the role of domestic courts as transnational actors in international investment law. In particular, this chapter examines the approaches and perspectives of the Canadian courts in the process of setting aside arbitral awards. This chapter seeks to understand how the courts themselves perceive their roles in the context of international investment law, and how the courts interact with the arbitral tribunals by legitimizing and delegitimizing certain narratives on international investment law. It suggests that the framework of “exit, voice and loyalty” developed by Albert O. Hirschman is most helpful to understand the relationships between the national courts and arbitral tribunals in the context of international investment law.