Resources

State Responsibility for Breaches of Investment Contracts

This work seeks to address the need for a detailed study that investigates and analyzes the sources, the content, the characteristics and the evolution of the law of state responsibility for breaches of investment contracts.

International Challenges in Investment Arbitration

Investment arbitration is heavily relied upon around the globe and has to cope with the demands of increasingly complex proceedings. At the same time, it has come under close public scrutiny in the midst of heated political debate.

Transparency in International Investment Arbitration: A guide to the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Treaty-Based Investor–State Arbitration

This book explains the underlying debate and provides an in-depth commentary on the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Treaty-Based Investor–State Arbitration, paragraph by paragraph.

IGF Guidance for Governments: Local content policies

The guidance focuses on mining sector local content policies—a suite of policies aimed at leveraging mining investment to, for example, increase local employment, boost mining companies’ local purchases and foster entrepreneurs in non-mining sectors.

World Investment Report 2018: Investment and new industrial policies

The 2018 World Investment Report presents foreign direct investment (FDI) trends and prospects at global, regional and national levels; analyzes the latest developments in national policy measures on investment; 

IIA Issues Note: Investor–State Dispute Settlement: Review of developments in 2017

UNCTAD’s annual review of investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) contains an overview of cases initiated pursuant to international investment agreements (IIAs), overall case outcomes and an in-depth analysis of decisions.

IIA Issues Note: Recent Developments in the International Investment Regime

The note highlights that the number of new IIAs concluded in 2017 was the lowest since 1983, and that, for the first time, the number of effective treaty terminations outpaced the number of new IIAs.

The WTO and International Investment Law: Converging systems

International law has historically regulated foreign trade and foreign investment differently, leading to variances in treaty form, institutional culture and dispute settlement. However, economic, legal and sociological factors are now pushing the two systems together.

Legalization, Diplomacy, and Development: Do investment treaties de-politicize investment disputes?

Architects of the investment treaty regime, as well as many current proponents, have suggested that the treaties also allow developing countries to de-politicize investor–state disputes, shielding commercial disputes from broader political and diplomatic considerations with developed states.

Judicial Acts and Investment Treaty Arbitration

Judicial acts of states are becoming increasingly subjected to international investment claims. This book focuses on distinctive particularities of these claims.

Civil Society in Investment Treaty Arbitration: Status and prospects

This book provides an overview of the evolution of civil society’s participation as amicus curiae before investment tribunals, an evolution that fits within a broader movement towards transparency in investment treaty arbitration.

Arbitrating the Conduct of International Investors

This book serves as a comprehensive guide for those who wish to reform international investment law from within, seeking a return to the mutuality of access that is in arbitration’s essence.

Investment Laws of ASEAN Countries: A comparative review

This report compares the investment laws of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states, focusing on basic questions relating to the function of investment laws in each country.

Contracts for Sustainable Infrastructure: Ensuring the economic, social and environmental co-benefits of infrastructure investment projects

This report defines sustainable infrastructure, outlines its expected characteristics and co-benefits, and presents why governments must and how they can integrate sustainability into infrastructure contracts.

ISDS in numbers: Impacts of investment arbitration against Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries are among the most affected by the investment arbitration system worldwide, representing 28.6 per cent of all known investor–state disputes around the world.

Large-Scale Land Investments in Least Developed Countries: Legal conflicts between investment and human rights protection

This book analyzes large-scale land investments for agricultural purposes in Africa’s least-developed countries from a law and economics perspective.

Towards an Indicative List of FDI Sustainability Characteristics

The paper seeks to make an important contribution to the international investment debate by highlighting particular desirable characteristics of FDI, outlining how these can be promoted and encouraged, and providing guidance so that national and international efforts in investment law and policy contribute fully to the achievement of these goals.

Integrating Sustainable Development in International Investment Law: Normative incompatibility, system integration and governance implications

This book presents an important systematic study of the issue of sustainable development and international investment law, using conceptual, normative and governance perspectives to explore the challenges and possible solutions for making international investment law more compatible with sustainable development.

Reconceptualizing International Investment Law from the Global South

This book shows how the current reform in investment regulation is part of a broader attempt to transform the international economic order.

International Investment Law and Policy in Africa: Exploring a human rights based approach to investment regulation and dispute settlement

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the international investment law regime and current treaty practices in Africa from global, regional and domestic perspectives.

Investor–State Arbitration and Human Rights

This book examines the interrelations between human rights and international investment law and discusses whether and how human rights arguments may be presented in the course of arbitral proceedings based on investment treaties.

2017 World Investment Report: Investment and the digital economy

The World Investment Report (WIR) focuses on trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) and emerging measures to improve its contribution to development.

Community Perspectives in Investor–State Arbitration

This report examines whether and how investment tribunals consider community perspectives, interests and rights.

The Independence and Impartiality of ICSID Arbitrators: Current case law, alternative approaches, and improvement suggestions

The author explores how unbiased decision-making is ensured under the ICSID Convention.

The Political Economy of the Investment Treaty Regime

This book synthesises and advances the growing literature on international investment law and policy by integrating legal, economic, and political perspectives.

Investor–State Dispute Settlement: Review of developments in 2016

The IIA Issues Note reviews developments in treaty-based investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) in 2016.

International Investment Law and the Global Financial Architecture

This book analyzes arbitral and treaty practice, and evaluates ways towards a balanced system of investment protection in the financial sector.

The Use of Economics in International Trade and Investment Disputes

This volume explores insights from the fields of trade law, investment arbitration, competition law and commercial arbitration on the use of economics within disputes, providing a comprehensive overview of existing knowledge and practice regarding the use of economics in international economic law.

Treaty Shopping in International Investment Law

The book examines the practice of treaty shopping—the strategic change of nationality or the strategic invocation of another nationality with the aim of accessing another investment treaty for purposes of investment arbitration—to investigate the challenges this practice poses in investment arbitration.