A/HRC/37/63 25. In contrast to the privatization, austerity and market-based solutions that characterize traditional loan conditions imposed on borrowing States, in his 2017 report to the General Assembly, the Independent Expert proposed that IMF place new, human rights-conscious conditions on borrower countries. These conditions would be aimed at generating revenue that could be used to pay back loans, while not obliging borrower States to divert funds from social spending. The new conditions include moratoriums on military spending (except on salaries and pensions) for the duration of the loan; adoption of national legislation ensuring transnational corporations pay their taxes, while profit-shifting and tax havens are outlawed; adoption of legislation imposing fines on persons and corporations that evade taxes and obliging citizens who have money hidden offshore to repatriate their wealth within a defined period of time or face penal sanctions; adoption of legislation to prevent corruption and bribes, accompanied by effective monitoring mechanisms; enactment of financial transactions tax legislation; and assurances by borrower States that no part of any loan is used to satisfy claims by vulture funds. 26. Yash Tandon reminds us in his book Trade is War17 that, historically, trade disputes have led to armed conflict, and that nations and peoples can find themselves exploited as a consequence of international agreements that violate their human dignity. In reports on bilateral investment treaties and free trade agreements, the Independent Expert has argued that the investor-State dispute settlement system has subverted the rule of law by creating a parallel system of dispute settlement, which is not transparent, accountable or even independent, and thus cannot be tolerated. Moreover, under the investment court system, States would remain vulnerable to the same kind of frivolous and vexatious claims that have characterized the hugely expensive, slow and unpredictable investor-State dispute settlement litigation. Important issues of constitutionality and the rule of law arise when non-State actors exercise prerogative powers beyond public control and judicial scrutiny 27. In addition to urging the abolition of the investor-State dispute settlement system, the recommendations of the Independent Expert related to the international trade and investment regime include calls for WTO to amend its constitution to integrate human rights, proposals on guidelines for trade dispute tribunals and calls for States to abolish trade asymmetries and arbitrariness in policies concerning agricultural subsidies. 28. With regard to a more democratic international order, the Independent Expert has further signalled the need to reform the United Nations and, in particular, the composition of the Security Council, in order to make it more responsive to the needs of its 193 States Members. Observers have pointed out that the theoretical equality of the Westphalian State system is put into question by the realities of power politics, economic imbalances, the sequels of colonialism and “unequal treaties”, and adverse trade relationships. Indeed, the overwhelming economic power of some countries renders illusionary the aspirations of sovereignty of many poorer countries. In the United Nations, votes are often influenced by economic carrot-and-stick practices, meaning some smaller economies find themselves involuntarily bending to economic and political pressure. 29. In his 2013 report to the General Assembly (A/68/284), the Independent Expert recommended strengthening global governance by expanding the membership of the Security Council, limiting the veto power of permanent members by requiring at least two votes to exercise it and obliging vetoing States to report their rationales to the General Assembly. This would prevent the use of veto power to shield States from criticism or multilateral sanctions. Critics have also proposed to shut down costly international penal tribunals, including the International Criminal Court, because of outcomes that are sometimes one-sided, arbitrary and have not managed to pierce the veil of impunity shielding powerful perpetrators of international crimes. It is far more important to systematize and strengthen truth commissions and to create effective mechanisms to provide reparation to victims. 30. The relative powerlessness of indigenous persons, and non-represented and disempowered peoples vis-à-vis States in global decision-making was an obstacle that was 17 10 Trade is War: The West’s War Against the World (New York, OR Books, 2015).