LAWS 2373 ‑ International Investment Law

CREDIT HOURS: 

The course encompasses the history, development, and basic architecture of IIL, as well as the main rules and standards of its substantive law. The course charts how the law from its fragmented basis in primarily bilateral investment treaties and principles of customary international law, has undergone a dynamic development through international arbitral practice. Currently more than 1000 known arbitral cases have been raised under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties. It has made the field of international investment law into a vibrant legal industry where most international law firms in the great arbitration centres of the world have separate departments specializing in such cases. But it has also created strong controversy and the field is the subject of constant demands for reform and political and academic controversy. The aim of the course is to develop an understanding of the nature and function of the various legal instruments, mechanisms and processes constituting IIL, as well as the key issues of the substantive law. The course draws on Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) to provide a critical perspective on the function of IIL in the global investment regime.

Prerequisite(s): None.
Co-requisite(s): None.
Assessment Method: The course evaluation consists of three parts: a major paper, class participation, and a 1,000-word blog.
Restrictions: None.