International Trade & Investment Law

This title is a part of the Elgar Advanced Introductions series.
This book gives a broad overview of international investment law (IIL), explaining core concepts of investment protection, their evolution, and how investment tribunals have interpreted them. It examines the main features of the prevailing investment dispute settlement system and takes into account historic antecedents and possible future developments.

This title is a part of the Elgar Advanced Introductions series.
This book presents an accessible yet nuanced introduction to the basic structure and principles of international trade law. It explores the development of the international trade law regime, principally GATT and WTO law, and through clear and concise discussion of the many developments that have arisen, gives a streamlined overview of this notoriously complex area of legal study.

This book explores engagement between the trade and investment law regimes and the extent to which this is being driven by Preferential Trade and Investment Agreements (PTIAs). It provides an empirical analysis of engagement between the two regimes using data from 60 PTIAs and 60 Bilateral Investment Treaties concluded between 2005-2019 to see whether PTIAs result in increased engagement and whether they are doing so over time. The book explores eight of the factors identified as evidencing inter-regime engagement.

This book examines the origins of free trade agreements (FTAs) and customs unions (CUs) in Article 24 of the GATT 1947 agreement. Article 24 permits but attempts to regulate their creation, an effort that failed early on.

This book examines problems, causes, and solutions surrounding this phenomenon by employing incomplete contract theory and opens new avenues in discussing how to correct incomplete IIAs. Throughout the book, the author challenges the fundamental assumption that most IIAs are concluded in a complete manner and emphasizes the importance of accounting for the fact that IIAs are often concluded without significant investment protection articles and are subject to renegotiation.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is seen primarily as an international human rights instrument. However, the Declaration also encompasses cultural, social and economic rights. Taken in the context of international trade and investment, the UN Declaration is a valuable tool to support economic self-determination of Indigenous peoples. This volume explores the emergence of Indigenous peoples' participation in international trade and investment, as well as how it is shaping legal instruments in environment and trade, intellectual property and traditional knowledge. One theme that is explored is agency. From amicus interventions at the World Trade Organization to developing a future precedent for a 'Trade and Indigenous Peoples Chapter', Indigenous peoples are asserting their right to patriciate in decision-making. The authors, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts on trade and investment legal, provide needed ideas and recommendations for governments, academia and policy thinkers to achieve economic reconciliation.

This book analyses the impact that stabilization clauses have on the development of human rights and gender laws in resource rich nations. Given the fact that stabilization clauses freeze the law for as long as the contract subsists there has been debate on the negative impact stabilization clauses have on the progressive development of human rights in the host State. Firstly, the book examines the mechanisms investors utilise in protecting themselves from host State prerogatives. It then explores the theoretical basis on which stabilization clauses are applied and upheld by arbitral tribunals, and assesses how they can be drafted in a way that protects human rights, particularly in relation to gender discrimination, without forcing the resource rich nations to lose momentum in attracting foreign direct investment. Using Zambia and the Gender Equity and Equality Act of 2015 as a case study, the book explores the compatibility of the legislation with the stabilization clauses contained in the country's Development Agreements.

This book proposes a legal, normative, and principled framework for rethinking the legal status, making, and reform of investment treaties and investment dispute settlement in Africa, with relevant and significant implications for the global investment treaty regime.

Sykes sets out to map and explain the complex dynamics of international trade agreements and institutions, synthesising legal analysis and cutting-edge economic research in order to present the reader with a sophisticated, holistic view of the field. Against the backdrop of the current impasse in both negotiation and dispute settlement at the World Trade Organisation, the book charts a clear path from the historical origins of trade law and the international system, to the current state of play, including unpacking the major areas of controversy.

This text is comprised of 3 volumes covering the following:
Volume 1: GATT
Volume 2: The WTO Agreements on Trade in Goods
Volume 3: The General Agreement on Trade in Services

This textbook offers an up-to-date, comprehensive and detailed analysis of the rules and practices which form international investment law and arbitration, covering its substantive, institutional and procedural aspects. Using analytical and practice-oriented approaches, it provides analyses accessible to readers discovering this field anew, while it offers a wealth of in-depth studies to those who are already familiar with it.

Transforming World Trade and Investment Law for Sustainable Development explains why the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Agenda for "Transforming our World"--aimed at realizing universal human rights and the 17 agreed sustainable development goals (SDGs)--requires transforming the UN and WTO legal systems, as well as international investment law and adjudication.