Judging at the Interface

Book excerpt: "Introduction Deference and the International Adjudication of Private Property Disputes While working as a government lawyer in 2011, a letter came into our office advising that the Philip Morris tobacco company had decided to sue Australia under a bilateral investment treaty. The company contended that Australia's tobacco plain packaging requirements breached its intellectual property rights, entitling it to billions of dollars in compensation under international law. This news was not particularly shocking to the small team of which I was part, which had been assembled within the government's Office of International Law to respond to these types of claims. The news was shocking, though, to the wider Australian community. Over the ensuing months, the community's disbelief became better-articulated in the press: How can an international tribunal sit in judgment over a measure which the Australian Parliament had decided was in the public interest after extensive scientific enquiry and public consultation? Could an international tribunal really reverse the finding of Australia's highest court that the legislation was lawful?"--