国际投资协定企业社会责任条款的适用问题初探

A Preliminary Study on the Application of Corporate Social Responsibility Clause in International Investment Agreements

近年来,新一代国际投资协定逐渐纳入企业社会责任条款,鼓励投资者将国际公认的企业社会责任软法规范内化为公司政策,采取负责任商业行为的最佳做法。然而,现有的企业社会责任条款措辞柔和、内容空泛,且缺乏强制执行机制,可适用性不强。在投资仲裁实践中,仲裁庭在面对涉及投资者与有过错的抗辩和争议时,对于是否以及如何归责于投资者,也常因责任依据不足和解释标准缺失等原因而略显无所适从。企业社会责任规则在适用中缺乏一种能够确保投资者切实践行所倡导的高标准道德行为的保障机制。当前,ISDS机制呈现“投资者诉东道国”的单向仲裁特征。未来,可以考虑构建“东道国诉投资者”反向仲裁机制,通过向投资者施压,促使其履行社会责任,推动实现可持续投资。

In recent years,the new generation of international investment agreements has progressively incorporated the clause of corporate social responsibility(CSR),encouraging investors to internalize internationally recognized soft law norms on CSR into their company policies and to pursue best practices of responsible business conduct.However,the existing CSR clauses are weakly worded with vague and general content,and also lack an enforceable mechanism,resulting in their inadequate applicability.In investment arbitration practice,arbitral tribunals are often at a loss in the face of defenses and controversies involving investors'contributory behaviors as to whether and how to attribute corresponding responsibility to foreign investors due to insufficient legal basis for liability and the lack of interpretive standards.The application of CSR provisions lacks an effective mechanism that would ensure investors to earnestly carry out the advocated high-standard ethical conduct.Currently,the ISDS mechanism is characterized by one-way arbitration of“investor v.host State”.In the future,the establishment of a“host state v.investor”reverse arbitration mechanism could be considered to promote sustainable investment by pressuring investors to fulfill their social responsibilities.