LAW-2424 International Investment Law
Over the past twenty years, global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) have increased at a rapid annual growth rate. As part of this, multinational corporations (MNCs) and their overseas investment activities are an immensely important and often contentious aspect of globalization. Governments recognize the need to provide a stable legal framework in order to attract foreign direct investment, yet also desire to retain their right to act and to regulate in the public interest without being sued by foreign investors. This course analyzes the global legal framework for regulating relations between foreign investors and the states hosting their investments. It will cover historical background to the current international investment law regime, including the law of diplomatic protection. We will focus on the international law relevant to the resolution of investment disputes rather than on the law of "doing deals." The course will examine the sources of international legal rules governing the treatment of FDI, including primarily Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), and the investment chapters of Free Trade Agreements, including Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The course will also examine calls for reform on the international investment law regime, stemming from the tension between a host state's interest in retaining unfettered sovereignty and an investor's interest in achieving reassurance and predictability about the regulatory environment for the duration of its investment. Last, we will also spend time studying the ways in which investment disputes are settled, paying particular attention to international arbitration before the World Bank's International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Finally, we will use as a case study the 2018 problem of the Foreign Direct Investment International Moot Competition (FDI Moot). Grading in the course will be based upon class participation, participation in an oral advocacy exercise, and a final paper (researching and drafting a memorial for a simulated investor-State arbitration).