Public Participation And Foreign Investment Law

Public Participation and Foreign Investment Law critically discusses the different forms of public participation that can be found or envisaged in foreign investment law. It provides the first systematic treatment of public participation in foreign investment law in its main forms and from different perspectives.

This open access book focuses on public actors with a role in the settlement of investment disputes. Traditional studies on actors in international investment law have tended to concentrate on arbitrators, claimant investors and respondent states. Yet this focus on the "principal" players in investment dispute settlement has allowed a number of other seminal actors to be neglected. This book seeks to redress this imbalance by turning the spotlight on the latter. From the investor's home state to domestic courts, from sub-national governments to international organisations, and from political risk insurance agencies to legal defence teams in national ministries, the book critically reviews these overlooked public actors in international investment law.

"Public Participation and Foreign Investment Law offers a systematic treatment of public participation from the standpoint of the three main sources of foreign investment law, namely treaties, legislation and contracts. It identifies and critically discusses the different forms of public participation that can be found or envisaged in foreign investment law. From this perspective, the book looks at public participation as vehicle to strike a balance between private and public rights and interests. This book contributes to the understanding of the current forms, level and impact of public participation. It provides indications on how such participation could be enhanced with a view of improving the balance and legitimacy of the legal instrument related to the promotion and protection of foreign investments"--

Increasingly, transnational corporations, developed countries and private actors are broadening the boundaries of their investments into new territories, in search of a higher return on capital. This growth in direct foreign investment involves serious concerns for both the investor and host state. Various exponents of international civil society and non-governmental organisations persuasively claim that such growth in foreign investments constitutes potential and serious hazards both to the environment and the fundamental rights and freedoms of local populations. This book explores from an international law perspective the complex relationship between foreign investments and common concerns, i.e. values that do not coincide, or do not necessarily coincide, with the interests of the investor and of the host state. It pays particular attention to the role of the main international development banks in reconciling the needs of foreign investors with the protection of common concerns, such as the environment, human rights and labour rights. Among its collection of essays, the volume asks how much "regulatory space" investment law leaves; whether international investment law is an effective means of balancing contrasting interests, and whether investment arbitration currently constitutes a mechanism of global governance. In collecting the outlooks of various experts in human rights, environmental and international economic law, this book breaks new ground in exploring how attention to its legal aspects may help in navigating the relationship between foreign investment and common concerns. In doing so, the book provides valuable insights into the substantive issues and institutional aspects of international investment law.

Transnational investment involves a variety of actors (States, public and private legal entities, and natural persons) whose relationships are governed by rules and legal instruments belonging to different legal systems. This book provides a systematic study of the sources of rights and obligations in the field of transnational investment, and their coordination and interaction. It focuses primarily on the network of over 3,000 Bilateral Investment Treaties, international investment contracts, customary international law, the main multilateral treaties, national legislation, international case law and general principles of law. The book, firmly based on State practice, arbitral awards and national decisions, is indispensable to fully appraise the nature and content of the claims of private investors as well as to identify the law applicable in investment arbitration.

Are conflicts between the ‘old capitalists’ and ‘new money’ manifest in today’s economy? Are investment treaties, which have traditionally been used to protect capital exporting states, now beginning to cause unwelcome side effects for them? International investment law has long been held as an economic and political instrument in the regime of international investment, with international investment treaties having been concluded to protect foreign investment and investors for a substantial period of time. However, the emerging new economic powers from the Third World are causing this to change. Taking the unique perspective of environmental protection in host states against states’ obligations to protect and promote foreign investments under the existing international investment treaty practice and dispute settlement practices, this book examines this inescapable conflict. This is the first major work in this field to interpret investment treaty provisions by introducing environmental reflection. It offers proposals for rethinking and reshaping the current pro-investor international investment law through taking up broad environmental exceptions.

International investment law has often been seen as an obstacle to sustainable development. While the connections between investment and development are plain, for a long time there has been relatively little scholarship exploring them. Combining critical reflection and detailed analysis, this book addresses the relationship between contemporary investment law and development. The book is organized around two competing visions of investment and development - as working either harmoniously or in conflict with one another. The expert contributors reflect on both of these views and analyse the social dimensions of development and its impact on investment law. Coverage includes in-depth discussion on such issues as human rights, poverty reduction, labor standards, and indigenous peoples. Students and scholars of international investment law will benefit from the informed analysis of the links between investment and development. This book will also be of use to practitioners and experts of development law who are looking for an up-to-date perspective of the field.

'...This book [...] goes beyond stating what the law is and focuses on controversies occurring within this area of the law... an excellent introduction to this complex area of international law for newcomers to the subject' Kate Miles, Australian International Law Journal The updated edition of this acclaimed book offers a critical overview of the law of foreign investment, incorporating a thorough analysis of the principles and standards of treatment available to foreign investors in international law. It is authoritative and multi-layered, offering an analysis of the key issues and an insightful assessment of recent trends in the case law, from both developed and developing country perspectives. A major feature of the book is that it deals with the tension between the law of foreign investment and other competing principles of international law. In doing so, it proposes ways of achieving a balance between these principles and the need to protect the legitimate rights and expectations of foreign investors on the one hand, and the need not to restrict unduly the right of host governments to implement their public policy on the other, including the protection of the environment and human rights, and the promotion of social and economic justice within the host country. Many of the pioneering ideas that were advanced in the first edition of this book in 2008 have been taken up by governments and international organisations in their attempts to reform the investor-State dispute settlement mechanism and strike a balance between different competing principles in developing international investment law. Accordingly, this fourth edition captures the essence of the ongoing multiple reform processes -either planned or envisaged – currently underway.