Resistance And Change In The International Law On Foreign Investment

Since the 1990s, conflicts within international law on foreign investment have arisen as a result of several competing interests. The neoliberal philosophy ensured inflexible investment protection given by a network of investment treaties interpreted in an expansive manner, which led to states creating regulatory space over foreign investment. However, NGOs committed to single causes such as human rights and the environment protested against inflexible investment protection. The rise to prominence of arguments against the fragmentation of international law also affected the development of investment law as an autonomous regime. These factors have resulted in some states renouncing the system of arbitration and other states creating new treaties which undermine inflexible investment protection. The treaty-based system of investment protection has therefore become tenuous, and change has become inevitable. Emphasising the changes resulting from resistance to a system based on neoliberal foundations, this study looks at recent developments in the area.

Explores the political context of the rapid changes in the international law on foreign investment made through investment arbitration.

The author examines different techniques adopted by States for attracting foreign investment and for ensuring that foreign investment serves their economic objectives.

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

Conflicts between foreign investment law and environmental law are becoming increasingly frequent. On the one hand, the rise of environmental regulation poses significant challenges to foreign investors in several industries. On the other, the surge in investment arbitration proceedings is making States aware of the important litigation risks that may result from the adoption of environmental regulation. This study of the relationship between these two areas of law adopts both a policy and a practical perspective. It identifies the major challenges facing States, foreign investors and their legal advisers as a result of the potential friction between investment law and environmental law and provides a detailed analysis of all the major legal issues on the basis of a comprehensive study of the jurisprudence from investment tribunals, human rights courts and bodies, the ICJ, the WTO, the ITLOS, the CJEU and other adjudication mechanisms.

The climate surrounding foreign investment law is one of controversy and change, and with implications for human rights and environmental protection, foreign investment law has gained widespread public attention and visibility. This fully updated edition of Sornarajah's classic text offers thought-provoking analysis of the law in historical, political and economic contexts, capturing leading trends and charting the possible course of future developments. It takes into account the newer types of treaties that establish a regulatory space for states and moves away from inflexible investment protection, exploring the newly created defences relating to environment, human rights, indigenous rights and other areas ending the fragmentation of the law. It looks at the current debates on legitimacy of the system and current efforts at reform. Suitable for postgraduate and undergraduate students, The International Law on Foreign Investment is essential reading for anyone specialising in the law of foreign investments.

Following the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the demonstrations against investor-state arbitration and the wide discussion during the 2016 US presidential election, the climate surrounding foreign investment law is one of controversy and change, and with implications for human rights and environmental protection, foreign investment law has gained widespread public attention and visibility. Addressing the pressing need to examine foreign investment law in the context of public international law, the role of the multinational corporation in foreign investment and issues of liability for environmental and other damage, this new edition analyses contractual and treaty-based methods of investment protection and examines the effectiveness of bilateral and regional investment treaties. By offering thought-provoking analysis of the law in historical, political and economic contexts, this fully updated edition of Sornarajah's classic text captures leading trends and charts the possible course of future developments. Suitable for postgraduate and undergraduate students, The International Law on Foreign Investment is essential reading for anyone specialising in the law of foreign investments.

An examination of the origins of international investment law and their continued resonance in the twenty-first century.