Resources and Events
Resources
IISD Handbook on Mining Contract Negotiations for Developing Countries, Volume I: Preparing for Success
By Howard Mann, Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, April 2015
Recognizing the need for a tool to help guide developing countries through the process of negotiating investment contracts with mining companies, this handbook seeks to assist government officials to identify their needs and goals and to prepare themselves to negotiate effectively, with the goal of creating maximum shared value from mining for developing countries. The work distills the experience of the author and colleagues in developing and delivering training programs, curricula, model contracts, and reviews of international best practice in developing countries and with international institutions. Part 1, the introduction, presents the orientation and structure of the handbook. The main goal of Part 2, on legal context, is to note how mining contracts fit into the legal context of three forms of legal sources relating to large mining investments: domestic law, investment treaties and mining contracts. Part 2 also considers how the handbook relates to the Model Mining Development Agreement (MMDA) of the International Bar Association (IBA). Part 3, on shifting from win–lose to win–win–win paradigms, addresses changing assumptions, such as the recognition of the need for a social license to operate and the legitimacy of community needs and objectives. Part 4 sets out key steps to prepare for negotiations, including: understanding the full economic value of the resource and the proposed project, identifying needs and opportunities of the developing country relating to the specific project, clarifying the role of domestic law, preparing internally for the negotiations (strategy, objectives, goals), building capacity in the negotiating team, managing the negotiating process with the company, and managing the political side. Available at https://www.iisd.org/publications/iisd-handbook-mining-contract-negotiations-developing-countries-volume-1
Resistance and Change in the International Law on Foreign Investment
By M. Sornarajah, Published by Cambridge University Press, April 2015
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. 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. Emphasizing the changes resulting from resistance to a system based on neoliberal foundations, this study looks at recent developments in the area. The book places in their political context the changes in international investment law in response to resistance, explains the rapidity of changes in the light of economic theories and their dismantling when the theories do not work, and highlights the instrumentality of law as a purveyor of power and economic theory. Available at http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/law/private-law/resistance-and-change-international-law-foreign-investment
Foreign Investment and the Environment in International Law
By Jorge E. Viñuales, Published by Cambridge University Press, April 2015
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 International Court of Justice (ICJ), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and other adjudication mechanisms. The book analyzes international jurisprudence beyond investment cases, to cover cases decided by many different tribunals, courts and bodies. Finally, it provides a balanced and reliable account of the current state of the law that avoids activism and disentangles “hard” law from progressive development. Available at http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/law/public-international-law/foreign-investment-and-environment-international-law
Events 2015
May 12–16
2015 GLOBAL LAND FORUM, International Land Coalition, Dakar, Senegal, http://www.globallandforum.org
May 27
ISDS: A WAY FORWARD – JOINT SEMINAR OF THE AIA, THE ARBITRATION INSTITUTE OF THE SCC AND THE BRUSSELS DIPLOMATIC AGENCY, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium, http://sccinstitute.com/media/56088/isds-a-way-forward-pdf.pdf
June 2–3
OECD FORUM 2015: INVESTING IN THE FUTURE: PEOPLE, PLANET, PROSPERITY, OECD, Paris, France, http://www.oecd.org/forum
June 8–19
EXECUTIVE TRAINING PROGRAM ON EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, Columbia University, New York, United States, http://ccsi.columbia.edu/2013/12/14/executive-training-program-on-extractive-industries-and-sustainable-development
July 2
LAUNCH OF ArbitralWomen/TDM SPECIAL ISSUE ON “DEALING WITH DIVERSITY IN INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION,” Ashurst LLP, London, United Kingdom, http://www.transnational-dispute-management.com/news.asp?key=586
July 10
EXPERT ROUNDTABLE ON INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT LAW AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, University Panthéon-Assas, Paris, France, http://cred.u-paris2.fr/investmentlaw2015
July 13–17
EXECUTIVE TRAINING ON INVESTMENT ARBITRATION FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, Columbia University, New York, United States, http://ccsi.columbia.edu/2013/12/12/executive-training-on-investment-arbitration-for-government-officials