Topic: A General Introduction on Admission & Establishment of Investment

The first session deals with the host States’ sovereign right to determine the conditions for admission and establishment of investment in their territory on the basis of which the States are prepared to accord benefits of treaty protection to the admitted investment, and on the basis of which the States would accept to arbitrate with foreign investors should disputes arise. This session serves as an introduction to the subsequent sessions of the training which deal with specific substantive investment protection and other related issues.

Topic: Investment Protection: Relative Standards and Expropriation

This session provides an overview of international laws and treaties governing international investment activities with respect to investment protection (national treatment, most-favoured-nation treatment and expropriation), to offer participants practical examples in order to understand and apply those laws and treaties, and to understand how international investment disputes may be resolved.

Topic: Climate Change, the Net Zero Energy Transition, and International Investment Law

The third session will cover international investment law and climate change, with a particular focus on the energy transition and the indispensable role of private investment to achieving net zero carbon emissions in line with Paris Agreement targets. This subject is closely connected with a number of other important legal and policy issues, including the ‘Fair and Equitable Treatment’ standard, the right to regulate, and proposals to reform ISDS. The session will consider investment treaty claims brought by renewable energy investors following changes to host State policy support, as well as claims by fossil fuel investors concerning coal plant phase-outs. The session will also consider how the investment treaty system could be better aligned with the Paris Agreement and host States’ net zero obligations, a critical aspect of the ongoing Energy Charter Treaty modernisation negotiations.

Topic: The Illegality Defence / ICSID Procedure and Practice

The fourth session will cover the defences of fraud and corruption which have been increasingly raised by host States in order to challenge the jurisdiction, admissibility and/or merits of the claims. The session will also provide an overview of the procedural steps of an ICSID arbitration, from the issuance of a trigger letter to the filing of an annulment application, considers the impact of the proposed amendments to the ICSID Rules on parties’ procedural considerations, and presents the key findings of the speaker’s empirical study on costs, damages, and duration of investment treaty proceedings.