Call for Papers: Investment Treaty Law and Arbitration - Evolution and Revolution in Substance and Procedure

Sydney Law School has issued a call for papers for its conference on "Investment Treaty Law and Arbitration - Evolution and Revolution in Substance and Procedure," February 19-20, 2010. Here's the call:

Conference Theme

This conference explores some of the most controversial issues in contemporary investment treaty law and arbitration discourse and practice. A global web of investment treaties has emerged, free trade agreements increasingly contain investment protection provisions, and investor–state arbitration is now well-established on the international plane as a significant dispute resolution mechanism. These developments are, however, impacting on a wide range of non-investment areas and politico-legal issues. The conference will explore these impacts, emerging issues in the nature of investment treaties, evolving jurisprudential trends, and potential changes in future direction for investment law and arbitration. Structurally, the conference will have two streams — one addressing the way in which developments in investment agreements and investment treaty arbitration are impacting on the substantive principles of international investment law, and one addressing emerging procedural issues. There will also be two further streams of cross-cutting issues — one addressing the interaction between investment arbitration and ‘commercially-oriented’ areas such as international commercial arbitration, WTO law, or international tax treaty dispute resolution; and one addressing the interaction between foreign investment law and policy with issues relating to the environment, development, human rights, and the Asia-Pacific.

Paper Proposals

Paper proposals are sought from both established and early-career researchers and practitioners, incorporating insights from a variety of disciplines. They must be submitted by 31 August 2009 to Kate Miles, Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, at k.miles@usyd.edu.au. Proposals should include the author’s name, institutional affiliation, full contact information, and an abstract of no more than 400 words. Please also include a short CV of the author.

Decisions on inclusion in the conference programme will be sent by 30 September 2009. Selected speakers will be expected to submit draft papers of 5,000–7,000 words by 1 February 2010. These draft papers will be made available to all conference participants to facilitate discussion. It is expected that post-conference publication will include an edited volume with an international publisher.