The Fragmentation of Taxpayers’ Rights in International Dispute Resolution Settings: Healing Anxieties through Judicial Dialogue

The current political transformations towards more transparency and efficiency in the struggle against tax avoidance schemes pervade our national governments, which blindly enforce the international standards at any cost. In this turmoil, the protection of taxpayers’ basic rights has been completely neglected. In response, several scholars and institutions have powerfully argued the need to elaborate a multilateral taxpayer bill of rights in taxation. In the author’s opinion, these attempts must be supported with an analysis of the judicial adjudication of taxpayers’ rights. In the realm of adjudication by international courts and tribunals, the author sheds light on how the phenomenon of fragmentation (separate normative frameworks and a proliferation of separated adjudicated bodies) triggers endemic taxpayer anxieties. This article goes further to explore potential solutions for these anxieties that will inevitably lead to strengthening the judicial dialogue.