Taylor St John

Taylor St John

About/Bio

Taylor St John is a Researcher at PluriCourts, University of Oslo, on leave from her position as Lecturer in International Relations, University of St Andrews. Her monograph, The Rise of Investor-State Arbitration: Politics, Law, and Unintended Consequences, was published in 2018. She previously held positions at PluriCourts, the London School of Economics, and Oxford, where she received a DPhil. Taylor attends UNCITRAL as an observer from iCourts, University of Copenhagen.

Recently Published

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reform: What to Expect When You’re Expecting

October 5, 2022

From September 5 – 16, the delegates of UNCITRAL Working Group III were back in Vienna to continue discussing ISDS reform. While it was possible for registered delegates to watch the proceedings online, it was only possible to make interventions in person. This approach, which we understand to be a general UN approach, decisively shifted the Working Group’s…

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UNCITRAL and ISDS Reform (Hybrid): Islands of Persuasion

March 18, 2022

Since UNCITRAL Working Group III opened its most recent session on 14 February, many delegates began their interventions by wishing each other a Happy Valentine’s Day. As they did this, we recalled our blog after the first virtual session, in which we wrote that moving online was “like entering into a long distance relationship that remains fueled…

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UNCITRAL and ISDS Reform (Hybrid): Season 5 – Watching the Grass Grow

November 24, 2021

Watching UNCITRAL Working Group III over the years has been a bit like viewing a long-running television series. The beginning of the process was exciting as we met a compelling cast of characters and the plot line began to take shape. Sometimes there was high drama: Which actors would support which kinds of reforms? Which ones would oppose…

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Popular articles by Taylor St John

UNCITRAL and ISDS Reform: China’s Proposal

August 5, 2019

On 19 July 2019, China submitted its proposal on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform to UNCITRAL. A Chinese version is available, though an English translation is yet to be posted. China reaffirms its commitment to ISDS as an important mechanism for resolving investor-state disputes under public international law. However, it takes note of significant…

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UNCITRAL and ISDS Reform: Plausible Folk Theories

February 13, 2020

  As observers of the UNCITRAL process, we watch the debates with great interest, writing about the emergence of different camps, giving perspectives on how the process fits within broader geopolitical developments, and offering potential models for moving forward. One thing that we are often struck by is how some of the field’s underlying narratives are…

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UNCITRAL and ISDS Reform (Online): Can You Hear Me Now?

October 13, 2020

‘Can you hear me now?’ is a question that the delegates of Working Group III asked each other often last week, as negotiations on ISDS reform continued but were, for the first time, online. Moving online means that negotiators are also facing many other new questions. How do you keep momentum going? Does moving online mean more governments and…

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International Economic Law International Tribunals Investor-State Arbitration Tribunals

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