Mass claims processes under public international law

The processes developed under public international law to deal with international mass claims arising from various types of crises and incidents (Mass Claims Processes) have a long history and have played an important role in shaping public international law. Indeed, the arbitrations under the Jay Treaty of 1794, which involved hundreds of claims, marked the beginning of the practical application of public international law, which had previously been largely an academic discipline.1 Although there is no fixed definition of Mass Claims Processes under international law, the term is generally understood to encompass ad hoc tribunals, quasi-judicial commissions or administrative programmes established to resolve claims “when a large number of parties have suffered damages arising from the same diplomatic, historic or other event.”2 These programmes “sometimes [borrow] concepts and procedures from each other, but often [invent] unique solutions in light of particular legal and practical perspectives.”3 Mass Claims Processes under international law therefore come in various forms, although they share a common purpose. The common purpose is to adjudicate large numbers of claims, whether for restitution or compensation for death, personal injury or damage to or confiscation of property resulting from extraordinary events such as armed conflicts, breaches of international humanitarian law or environmental disasters. In recent times, mass claims arising from financial and economic crises have also been advanced in the framework of international investment treaty