International Investment Law and the Pandemic: New Trends and Old Standards

30 November 2021 

2.00 - 3.30 pm - Panel 1. The Rise of Investment Screening

Chair: Pia Acconci, University of Teramo

Speakers:

• FDI screening in times of Covid: broader and additional mechanisms, Antonino Alì, University of Trento
• Geoeconomic risks associated with foreign investments, Jens Hillebrand Pohl, Maastricht University
• Preventing unwanted acquisitions before and after the Covid crisis, Francesco Salerno, Gianni & Origoni - Bruxelles (online) 

Discussant: Tarcisio Gazzini, University of Padua 

Q&A

4.00 - 5.30 pm - Panel 2. Investment Law: Standards and Norms in Times of Crisis

Chair: Attila Massimiliano Tanzi, University of Bologna

Speakers:

• Full protection and security applied to the Covid emergency: States’ inaction and its impact on the crisis, Sebastián Mantilla Blanco, University of Bonn
• FET standard: what expectations are legitimate in times of crisis?, Yulia Levashova, Nyenrode Business University
• Customary law defenses and investment arbitration: force majeure and the state of necessity, David Collins, City University of London

Discussant: Catharine Titi, University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas 

Q&A

1 December 2021

9.00 - 10.30 am - Panel 3. Investment Arbitration and Scientific Knowledge

Chair: Giuseppe Nesi, University of Trento

Speakers:

• The WHO’s role in providing scientific knowledge in investment arbitration, Marco Pertile, University of Trento
• Scientific knowledge to help arbitrators assessing domestic regulatory measures?, Sondra Faccio, University of Trento
• Scientific evidence in investment arbitration: procedural matters, Gian Maria Farnelli, University of Bologna

Discussants: Eric de Brabandere, Leiden University (online) and Pia Acconci, University of Teramo

Q&A

11.00 - 12.00 am - Book presentation: Volume 20 of the Nijhoff Investment Law Series (online)

Reza Eftekhar, The role of the domestic law of the host state in determining the jurisdiction ratione materiae of investment treaty tribunals. The partial revival of the localisation theory?

Chair: Eric de Brabandere, Leiden University

Discussant: Filippo Fontanelli, University of Edinburgh

Information and Registration:

The Seminar will take place in person and online in live streaming on this web page. Participation is free but registration is necessary:

- IN PERSON EVENT Registration *Places available are limited

- ONLINE *You can follow the Conference in live streaming on this web page 

Previous Expert Seminars

1. The Sources of Rights and Obligations in the Field of Transnational Investment, University of Leiden and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 15-16 June 2011 
2. Foreign Investment in the Energy Sector: Balancing Private and Public Interests, University of Leiden and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1-2 October 2012 
3. Foreign Investment in Africa: Gaining Development Momentum, University of Geneva, 10-11 October 2013 
4. Foreign Investment in the Service Sector, University of Lausanne, 19 September 2014 
5. Foreign Investment and Facilitation, University of Geneva, 18-19 February 2016 
6. Public Participation in Foreign Investment Law, University of East Anglia, 4-5 July 2018 
7. Good Governance and Foreign Investment in the Natural Resource Sector, University of East Anglia, 17-18 June 2019