ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the case that the expropriation provisions of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have been harmful to environmental regulation. It discusses that, based on the three tribunals that have ruled on the issue of expropriation to date, the expropriation provisions of NAFTA have not undermined environmental regulation in North America. The chapter reviews the international law of expropriation in order to provide a context for the NAFTA jurisprudence and evaluate the claim that the tribunals have moved beyond the international norm. It also examines the three NAFTA cases that have ruled on expropriation, and makes conclusions about the actual and potential threat that these tribunals pose for environmental regulation. Indirect expropriation refers to actions, omissions, or measures attributable to a government that are the functional equivalent of an expropriation. The concept of police power—a sphere in which a government may regulate without liability—is generally accepted among international law commentators.
