In the last decade, international investment law has developed into one of the core areas of international law. The reason for this development is twofold. The number of cases has increased rapidly. The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes has over a hundred pending cases and there are more before ad hoc tribunals, mostly operating under the United Nations' Commission on International Trade Law Rules. In addition, investment law has addressed a number of novel issues while also coming up with some innovative solutions. This book brings together the papers delivered at the Young Scholars Conference in International Economic Law, which was held at the University of Vienna Law School in June 2007. Under the general topic of "Current Issues and Developments in International Investment Law," the speakers addressed core issues like the definition of investment, legitimate expectations of investors, and the meaning and importance of references to domestic law included in many Bilateral Investment Treaties. Also discussed were topics like the role of investment law in the context of the European Union and its relation to cultural matters, human rights, and other non-investment issues. As international investment law is becoming more and more significant, a book such as this, dedicated to the latest developments in the field, will be of utmost importance to anyone interested in this area of law.

Offers the most comprehensive, detailed and up-to-date analysis of international investment law and arbitration compared to its competitors.

This book is a thought-provoking and authoritative text on this fast moving field of international law.

Concise introduction to the dynamic field of international investment law which sets out the key legal concepts and engages with current debates.

This up-to-date and revised third edition offers a clear and comprehensive overview aimed at upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate courses on international investment law. Key features and benefits include: • concise descriptions of legal principles followed by classic and contemporary cases • extracts from and analysis of key recent decisions, revised investment treaty texts and new court system proposals • detailed discussion notes and all new ‘Questions to an Expert’ to enable classroom discussion and facilitate critical reflection.

In The Interpretation of International Investment Law: Equality, Discrimination and Minimum Standards of Treatment in Historical Context, author Todd Weiler demonstrates how historical analysis should be adopted in the interpretation of international investment law obligations. Weiler subjects some of the most commonly held beliefs about the nature and development of international investment law to a critical re-appraisal, based upon meticulously assembled historical record. In the process, the book provides readers with a fresh perspective on some of the oldest obligations in international law.

The term ‘attribution’ refers to the means by which it is ascertained whether the State is involved in a dispute governed by international law. The notion of attribution is primarily used to determine if the State is responsible for the wrongful conduct of persons or entities with links to the State. In the context of international investment law, the exponentially growing arbitration jurisprudence arising from international investment agreements (IIAs), especially bilateral investment treaties (BITs), reflects the extent and risk of attribution determined in investment relationships that often involve State enterprises. This book, the first in-depth study of the uses of attribution in international investment law, provides a deeply informed analysis of the treatment of attribution in applicable legal instruments and investment arbitration jurisprudence worldwide. The analysis responds to such questions as the following: - When is a conduct attributable to the State for the purposes of its responsibility under international investment law? - What legal instruments govern the question of attribution under international investment law? - In what circumstances is the State the proper party to a contract entered into by a State-owned enterprise with an investor protected by an investment treaty? - How can State policymakers minimise their international law responsibility within the existing framework of attribution in international investment law? - How can investors maximise their protection within the existing framework of attribution in international investment law? Also covered are the procedural treatment of attribution by investment tribunals, explication of such broad-brush wordings as ‘elements of governmental authority’ and ‘under the direction or control’, and the impact of the rise of State-owned enterprises as investors. Ongoing and future trends in the jurisprudence are also taken into account. A one-stop reference on the question of attribution in international investment law, the analysis extracts identifiable commonalities among instruments and rulings, turning them into useful practice tools. This book will prove invaluable for practitioners advising States or investors in investment disputes. More generally, this book will be welcomed by arbitrators, in-house counsel for companies doing transnational business and international arbitration centres, as well as by academics in international arbitration.

International investment law is in transition. Whereas the prevailing mindset has always been the protection of the economic interests of individual investors, new developments in international investment law have brought about a paradigm shift. There is now more than ever before an interest in a more inclusive, transparent, and public regime. Shifting Paradigms in International Investment Law addresses these changes against the background of the UNCTAD framework to reform investment treaties. The book analyses how the investment treaty regime has changed and how it ought to be changing to reconcile private property interests and the state's duty to regulate in the public interest. In doing so, the volume tracks attempts in international investment law to recalibrate itself towards a more balanced, less isolated, and increasingly diversified regime. The individual chapters of this edited volume address the contents of investment agreements, the system of dispute settlement, the interrelation of investment agreements with other areas of public international law, constitutional questions, and new regional perspectives from Europe, South Africa, the Pacific Rim Region, and Latin America. Together they provide an invaluable resource for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. The individual chapters of this edited volume address the contents of investment agreements, the system of dispute settlement, the interrelation of investment agreements with other areas of public international law, constitutional questions, and new regional perspectives from Europe, South Africa, the Pacific Rim Region, and Latin America. Together they provide an invaluable resource for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.

This book outlines the principles behind the international law of foreign investment. The main focus is on the law governed by bilateral and multilateral investment treaties. It traces the purpose, context, and evolution of the clauses and provisions characteristic of contemporary investment treaties, and analyses the case law, interpreting the issues raised by standard clauses. Particular consideration is given to broad treaty-rules whose understanding in practice has mainly been shaped by their interpretation and application by international tribunals. In addition, the book introduces the dispute settlement mechanisms for enforcing investment law, outlining the operation of Investor-State arbitration. Combining a systematic analytical study of the texts and principles underlying investment law with a jurisprudential analysis of the case law arising in international tribunals, this book offers an ideal introduction to the principles of international investment law and arbitration, for students, scholars, and practitioners alike.

August Reinisch gives a broad overview of the entire field of international investment law that has emerged as an important subfield of international economic law over the last decades. As a result of the boom of investment arbitration since the late 1990s, core questions of the substantive treatment of foreign investors are analysed. Combining an academic and a practical perspective, this book has been written to provide an introduction to investment law for lawyers, political scientists, economists as well as those interested in international relations.