LAW666A

This course introduces students to the international regulation of foreign investment. It examines core principles of international investment law, regional and bilateral investment treaties, the settlement of investment disputes, and the international economic and political context in which the law has developed. The first part of the course considers the evolution of international investment law, including its origins in the diplomatic protection of alien property and the emergence of key principles of investor protection. It examines the discord over the application of the international minimum standard versus national treatment and the development of the Calvo Doctrine. It analyses large-scale expropriations that occurred during the 20th century, the impact of decolonisation, proposals of the New International Economic Order, and the development of the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources. The course then examines the recent formation of the current international legal framework for foreign investment through bilateral and regional investment treaties. It considers both their substantive principles and the procedural aspects. Substantively, it examines the use of national treatment and most-favoured-nation treatment clauses, the fair and equitable treatment standard, the full protection and security standard, expropriation, umbrella clauses, stabilisation clauses, and compensation standards. In particular, it examines investor-State arbitration through an analysis of recent arbitral awards, the procedural structure for bringing claims via the use of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ('ICSID') or the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, and procedural issues such as transparency of proceedings, the ability to file amicus curiae briefs, and the possible creation of an appellate jurisdiction for investor-State claims.