Resources and Events
Resources
The Mining Policy Framework: Assessing the implementation readiness of member states of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) – Synthesis Report
By Alec Crawford, Published by IISD, October 2015
IISD, with support from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD), worked with three member states of IGF—the Dominican Republic, Madagascar, and Uganda—to help them operationalize practices consistent with IGF’s Mining Policy Framework (MPF). This was a two-part process. First, assessments measured the readiness of the three member states to implement the six pillars of the MPF through existing government laws, policies and measures. The assessments were then used to help governments target their efforts in implementing the MPF, to inform capacity-building efforts, and to allow for monitoring of progress over time. The second part of the project focused specifically on the capacity-building element. This report synthesizes some of the key findings from the assessments and the capacity-building workshops. Available at http://www.iisd.org/library/mining-policy-framework-assessing-implementation-readiness-member-states-intergovernmental
Investment Dispute Settlement Navigator (ISDS Navigator)
By United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), December 2015
UNCTAD has launched its fully revamped ISDS Navigator. The online database contains information on 696 publicly known international arbitration cases initiated by investors against states pursuant to international investment agreements (IIAs). It includes advanced search options, as well as readily available statistical data on the main aspects of ISDS cases. Each case entry contains information on: legal basis (applicable treaty); countries involved; short summary of the dispute; economic sector and subsector; amounts claimed and awarded; breaches of IIA provisions alleged and found; arbitrators serving on the tribunal; status/outcome of the arbitral proceedings; decisions issued by tribunals (with links to texts); links to external sources with information about the case; among other items. The data has been updated as of January 1, 2016. Available at http://investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/isds
Shifting Paradigms in International Investment Law: More Balanced, Less Isolated, Increasingly Diversified
By Steffen Hindelang and Markus Krajewski (editors), Published by Oxford University Press, January 2016
While the prevailing mindset in international investment law has always been the protection of the economic interests of individual investors, new developments have brought about a paradigm shift. There is now more than ever before an interest in a more inclusive, transparent, and public regime. The book analyses how the investment treaty regime has changed and how it ought to be changing to reconcile private property interests and the state’s duty to regulate in the public interest. The individual chapters address the contents of investment agreements, the system of dispute settlement, the interrelation of investment agreements with other areas of public international law, constitutional questions, and new regional perspectives from South Africa and Latin America. Available at https://global.oup.com/academic/product/shifting-paradigms-in-international-investment-law-9780198738428
Investment Law within International Law: Integrationist Perspectives
By Freya Baetens (editor), Published by Cambridge University Press, January 2016
The book examines the links between investment law and other sub-fields of international law, including the law on armed conflict, human rights, sustainable development, trade, development and EU law. In particular, it scrutinizes how concepts, principles and rules developed in the context of such sub-fields of public international law could inform the content of investment law. Solutions aimed at resolving problems in other settings may provide instructive examples for addressing current problems in the field of investment law, and vice versa. The underlying question is whether key sub-fields of public international law, notably international investment law, are open to cross-fertilisation, or, whether they are evolving further into self-contained regimes. Available at http://www.cambridge.org/academic/subjects/law/arbitration-dispute-resolution-and-mediation/investment-law-within-international-law-integrationist-perspectives
Analogies in International Investment Law and Arbitration
By Valentina Vadi, Published by Cambridge University Press, December 2015
Many recent arbitral awards have determined the boundary between two conflicting values: the legitimate sphere for state regulation in the pursuit of public goods, and the protection of foreign private property from state interference. Can comparative reasoning help adjudicators in interpreting and applying broad and open-ended investment treaty provisions? Can the use of analogies contribute to the current debate over the legitimacy of investor–state arbitration? How should comparisons be made, and what are their limits? This book scrutinizes the impact a comparative approach can have on investment law, including on increasing its perceived legitimacy. Available at http://www.cambridge.org/academic/subjects/law/public-international-law/analogies-international-investment-law-and-arbitration
Events 2016
March 3–4
19TH ANNUAL IBA INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION DAY 2016, International Bar Association (IBA) Arbitration Committee, Pudong Shangri-La Hotel, Shanghai, China, http://www.ibanet.org/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleUid=a6012508-0839-4c51-9cb1-eec86df04762
March 7
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTRA-EU BITS AND INTRA-EU DISPUTES, Law School of the University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, http://intra-eu-bits.univie.ac.at
March 7–9
1ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON ENERGY ARBITRATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA, Centre for International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution of the London Centre of International Law Practice (LCILP) & Centre for International Energy and National Resources Law and Security, London, United Kingdom, http://lcilpconference.org
March 10–11
KLRCA INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT ARBITRATION CONFERENCE, Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, https://webapps.worldbank.org/apps/ICSIDWEB/Documents/KLRCA-flyer.pdf
March 11
INVESTMENT ARBITRATION UNDER THE SCC RULES, Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, http://www.sccinstitute.com/about-the-scc/event-calendar/frankfurt-scc-conference-in-connection-to-the-frankfurt-investment-moot
March 14–15
INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE ON THE TRANSATLANTIC TRADE AND INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP (TTIP), Centre for European Research at the University of Gothenburg (CERGU), Gothenburg, Sweden, http://cergu.gu.se/english/Events/Calendar/Event_Detail/?eventId=3127005768
March 14–18
17TH ANNUAL WORLD BANK CONFERENCE ON LAND AND POVERTY 2016: “SCALING UP RESPONSIBLE LAND GOVERNANCE,” World Bank, Washington, DC, United States, http://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2015/07/20/land-and-poverty-conference-2016-scaling-up-responsible-land-governance
March 15
JOINT UNCITRAL-LAC CONFERENCE, United Nations Conference on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) & Ljubljana Arbitration Centre (LAC), Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ljubljana, Slovenia, http://globalarbitrationreview.com/events/1869/joint-uncitral-lac-conference
March 16
UNCTAD EXPERT MEETING: “TAKING STOCK OF IIA REFORM,” part of Multi-year Expert Meeting on Investment, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Productive Capacity-building and Sustainable Development, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Room XXVI, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, http://unctad.org/en/Pages/Meetings/Expert-Meetings.aspx (RSVP to WIF_IIA_Conference@unctad.org with “In person attendance” or “Webinar attendance” in the subject line)
March 30 – April 2
110TH ASIL ANNUAL MEETING: “CHARTING NEW FRONTIERS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW,” American Society of International Law (ASIL), Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, United States, https://www.asil.org/annualmeeting
March 31
INTRODUCTION TO ICSID ARBITRAL PRACTICE, Ministry of Financial Services, Commonwealth of The Bahamas, The British Colonial Hilton, Nassau, The Bahamas, https://webapps.worldbank.org/apps/ICSIDWEB/Documents/ICSID Introduction Bahamas Program.pdf
April 22–23
BUCERIUS LAW JOURNAL CONFERENCE ON INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT LAW & ARBITRATION, Bucerius Law School, Hamburg, Germany, http://law-journal.de/en/conference