Course Content (Syllabus)
This course offers an overview of the institutions, rules and mechanisms governing the international economic relations in the field of foreign investments. It covers state-to-state and state-to-investor relations. It provides an introduction to the classification of states into developed, developing, least developed and transition economies, as well as into capital exporting and capital importing countries for the purposes of the course on International Investment Law in particular. The focus of this course is on the definition of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the sources of International Investment Law and the legal techniques for the promotion and protection of foreign investments. Discussed are bilateral investments treaties, national investment codes, multilateral investment agreements, principles governing the treatment of foreign investments, expropriation and other non-commercial risks encountered by a foreign investor in the host state, financing and guarantee schemes for foreign investments, barriers and incentives to foreign investments and settlement of disputes between a host state and a foreign investor, including ICSID arbitration.