JJUA55142U International Investment Law

The main objective of the course is to acquaint students with fundamental knowledge of the legal regime of international investment law in its politicaland societal context. The international investment law regime is a legal regime - which can be characterized as a specialized or subsystem of international law - governing the protection of foreign investors and investments as well as host states’ right to interfere with protected investments. The international investment law regime consists mainly of a myriad of investment treaties that typically provide investors with a catalogue of rights that protect investments as well as a treaty-based right to resolve disputes in international investment arbitration often referred to as investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). The international investment law regime is in a transition phase. A number of states all over the world are currently revising their investment treaty policies giving rise to expectations of significant developments in the law in the years to come. In this course the legal regime is explained in its relevant societal context whereby it is shown how other subsystems of international law, namely the human rights regime as well a key policy trends may have an impact on the international investment law regime.

This course falls in three main parts:

PART I The international law on state responsibility and treaty interpretation.

PART II The fundamental legal rules governing the protection of foreign investments, such as the rules on expropriation, fair and equitable treatment, full protection and security, nondiscrimination, internationalization of contracts and settlement of investment disputes in investment arbitration. While focusing mainly on key multilateral and bilateral investment treaties this part also addresses the relation between treaty and contract.

PART III Investment policy trends shaping the rules of the international investment law regime. This part sets out by explaining the fundamental frictions between the investment law regime and the human rights regime. In this regard, it is shown how the human rights regime may impede on the interpretation of the investment protection standards affecting inter alia the standard of compensation. Subjects included in this part is e.g. protection of property in human rights treaties, the UN Covenants of Civil and Political Rights and Economic and Social Rights and the role of NGOs in investment arbitration. Furthermore, in this part of the course the key policy trends and their impact on the international investment law regime is explained. This includes inter alia policy analysis by the United Nations’ Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the concept of sustainable development and the impact on investment treaties, EU investment policy and relevant negotiations, such as the EU-USA Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP).

This course is part of iCourts Excellence Programme (iEP) – International Law and Courts in a Global World, see 'Remarks' below.