Rethinking Investment Law

There is no denying that the rules and enforcement mechanisms of investment law and arbitration reach deep into the regulatory and policy space of host states. Investment tribunals have the ability to second-guess all variety of state measures and, in doing so, have displayed a remarkable lack of restraint. Despite investment law's muscularity, without equal in international law, the prevailing orthodoxy treats investment law as a defensible and just restraint on government and politics. This volume helps to correct the prevailing view. Rethinking Investment Law illustrates how investment law protections for foreign investors constrains states and over-compensates investors. It offers a more balanced vision of how international law can protect all those affected, not just foreign investors. An expert set of contributors explain both the conventional law and its limitations. Their analysis shows that doctrines, now widely entrenched, in orthodox accounts of investment law could have taken, and could still take, a different turn. They offer a more respectful approach to states' roles and responsibilities to enact laws in the public interest. This text will be an illuminating read for students and academics in areas such as investment law and international economic law. It provides cutting-edge analysis for researchers, practitioners, and students seeking to understand and question the usual standards of treatment under investment treaties.

1 - Introduction
2 - National Treatment
3 - Most Favoured Nation Treatment
4 - Expropriation
5 - The Minimum Standard of Treatment
6 - Denial of Justice and Judicial Measures
7 - Fair and Equitable Treatment
8 - Umbrella Clauses
9 - The Right to Regulate
10 - The Determination of Quantum and Claim Inflation
11 - Conclusion: Containing the Pernicious Regime of Investment Arbitration

David Schneiderman is Professor of Law and Political Science (courtesy) at the University of Toronto where he teaches courses on Canadian and US constitutional law, comparative constitutional law, and international investment law. He is the author of over 80 articles and book chapters and the author or editor of over a dozen books. Gus Van Harten is a professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. He has written widely on international investment law and arbitration.