PETALING JAYA: The business of suing governments has flourished as nations enter into various free trade agreements (FTAs), according to Klang MP Charles Santiago.
Speaking today as he reviewed a chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), Santiago claimed that there had been a “mushrooming” of legal firms that specialize in helping multinational corporations sue governments.
He said that suits against governments that allegedly violate FTAs would often be settled outside the courts by international arbitration tribunals.
“The three people inside a tribunal are lawyers, not judges,” he said. “One is appointed for the state, another is appointed for the corporation and another is the chairman of the World Bank.
“These are for-profit lawyers who get US$3,000 an hour just for sitting there. On Monday a lawyer might represent the government while on Wednesday the same lawyer might represent a company. This means a lawyer can stand on both sides.”
He added that the minimum amount required to engage a tribunal was US$8 million.
Santiago said such tribunals threatened the supremacy of a court’s decision and allowed multinational corporations to influence policies on health, the environment, workers’ rights and other issues. “If the tribunal finds a government guilty, then it has to reverse its decision.”
He cited a case in which a French water company called Veolia Water was attempting to use arbitration against the Egyptian government for introducing minimum wages.
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