Shadow Courts

Arbitration tribunals are buried in thousands of trade treaties, linking more than 179 countries. Called Investor-State Dispute Settlements, or ISDS, these tribunals allow private corporations to sue sovereign nations if they believe terms of a treaty were violated. In 2010, tobacco giant Philip Morris International used arbitration tribunals to sue Sierra Leone and Uruguay for putting health-warning labels on cigarette packages, and it has gone on to file suits against Australia and the European Union. Between 1959 and 1990, only about two dozen ISDS cases were brought; in the last few years, it's averaged forty cases a year, and 549 total. ISDS is included in giant trade pacts like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which if passed would mean a huge boon for corporations to challenge the power of sovereign countries, and especially small and impoverished ones. "Time" correspondent Haley Sweetland Edwards goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the most outrageous recent arbitration cases, and takes a hard look at the power these shadow courts hold over the world.