This paper reviews the relationship between international investment agreements (IIAs) and foreign direct investment (FDI). It is organised in two parts. The first part explores the generic structure of IIAs and highlights the components that are particularly relevant to FDI. It then gives an...

Over the years, the substantive content of international investment agreements (IIAs) has shifted to reflect political change and to respond to lessons learnt in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). With a focus on eight IIAs, selected with a view to geographical representativeness, this...

In 2016 and 2017, states continued their engagement with international investment law. A small minority of states displayed scepticism or tried to disengage themselves from their investment law obligations. This chapter addresses select institutional developments in international investment law...

This commentary focuses on Article 8.30 CETA, which is entitled ‘Ethics’ and sets ethical rules for the Members of the CETA Tribunal and the Appellate Tribunal. The European Commission presents this precept in a succinct paragraph, highlighting the key issues addressed and the main novelties...

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) aims to combat the proliferation of counterfeit and pirated goods ‘through enhanced international cooperation and more effective international enforcement’. Despite news reports and academic commentary to the contrary, the first part of this...

Only days after his inauguration as U.S. President, Donald J. Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a “mega” regional free trade agreement that would have established the world's largest free trade zone. Although President Trump announced that the...

The political economy of international trade decision-making within the United States is complex and ever-changing. The debates over the merits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the associated efforts of the Obama Administration to obtain Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), highlight...

The China–Australia Free Trade Agreement (‘ChAFTA') reflects the latest development of trade and investment rules in regional economic integration and is of significance to the future development of the international economic legal order. Through a critical analysis of the major ChAFTA rules...

Geographic indications (GIs) stand at the intersection of three hotly debated issues in international law: international trade, intellectual property and agricultural policy. Similar to a trademark (albeit to a limited degree), a GI identifies a good as originating in a particular region, where...

The paper aims to introduce the types of and the trends related to the latest new generation free trade agreements (FTAs) of the European Union (EU). The paper introduces how the EU has constantly broadened the scope of the copyright chapters of the FTAs it signed with its global partners. The...