This course introduces the normative framework protecting foreign investments and the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism. The course will trace the foundations of international legal protection including the customary international law and other general principles governing foreign investments. Contractual and domestic law protection of foreign investments will be examined, before typical legal standards in bilateral investment treaties are systematically studied. The role of multilateral instruments, especially related to contemporary trends in investor-state dispute settlement, investment guarantee and mega free trade agreements would be assessed. Foreign investment related treaty law and practice of specific states would be focus in the end.

CILO-1: Students will be able to explain how customary norms and general principles in international law protect foreign investments. CILO-2: Students will be able to determine the scope of contractual and domestic law protection of foreign investments. CILO-3: Students will be able to illustrate how bilateral treaty law and its specific legal standards provides a predominant form of foreign investment protection. CILO-4: Students will be able to appraise the role of International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) mechanism in dispute settlement and deduce future developments and reformative path in Investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism. CILO-5: Students will be able to compare and contrast the typical characteristics of treaty law and legal practice governing inward and outward foreign investments in specific states.