This conference on future directions will kick-off with a launch of the PluriCourts Investment Treaty Arbitration Database (PITAD), which aims at assisting empirical research and providing a space for harmonization of data collection and storage. The launch will be followed by presentations on (1) new themes and projects in investment treaties and arbitration research and (2) the potential for collaboration on data collection, storage and analytics.
The conference is sponsored by LEGINVEST, which is a Research Council of Norway project dedicated to studying the dynamic interaction between investment arbitration and investment treaty design. LEGINVEST also serves as a hub for PITAD and ongoing empirical and theoretical research on the legitimacy of investor-state dispute resolution (‘’ISDS”).
12:00-13:30 PITAD Launch (with Lunch)
Chair: Ole Kristian Fauchald, Professor Pluricourts, University of Oslo & Coordinator, LEGINVEST
Why the database?
Malcolm Langford, Professor of Public Law & Affiliate, Pluricourts, University of Oslo
Building the database
Daniel Behn, Associate Professor, Pluricourts, University of Oslo & Lecturer, Uni. of Liverpool
Max Usynin, Research Fellow, University of Copenhagen
Using the Database
Runar Lie, Research Fellow, Pluricourts, University of Oslo
Taylor St. John, Lecturer, University of St. Andrews
Tarald Berge, Research Fellow, University of Oslo
Discussion and coffee break
14-15:15 Researching Arbitrators
Chair: Mikael Madsen, Director, iCourts Centre of Excellence, Uni. of Copenhagen
Diversity and Compliance in International Courts
Presenter: Sergio Puig, Associate Professor of Law, University of Arizona and Anton Strezhnev, Post-doctoral fellow, University of Pennsylvania Law School
Comment: Malcolm Langford, Professor of Public Law, University of Oslo
Presenter: Catherine Rogers, Professor, Penn State Law
Comment: Daniel Behn, Associate Professor, Pluricourts, University of Oslo
Does Nationality Matter?
Presenter: Malcolm Langford, Professor of Public Law & Affiliate, Pluricourts, University of Oslo and Daniel Behn, Associate Professor, Pluricourts, University of Oslo
Comment: Sergio Puig, Associate Professor of Law, University of Arizona
15:30-16:45 Arbitration-Treaty Relationships
Chair: Mavluda Sattorova, Senior Lecturer, University of Liverpool
Empirical Research on the Interaction of Treaties and Arbitral Awards
Presenter: Wolfgang Alschner, Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
Comment: Runar Lie, Research Fellow, Pluricourts, University of Oslo
Dispute by Design? Legalisation, Backlash and the Drafting of Investment Agreements
Presenter: Tarald Berge, Research Fellow, University of Oslo
Comment: Theresa Squatrito, Lecturer, University of Liverpool
Presenter: Runar Lie, Research Fellow, Pluricourts, University of Oslo
Comment: Wolfgang Alschner, Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
Regulatory Chill Effect of ISDS on Environmental Regulation
Presenter: Axel Berger, Researcher, German Development Institute
Comment: Ole Kristian Fauchald, Professor Pluricourts & Coordinator, LEGINVEST
16:45-18:00 Arbitration's Relationship to Policy and Doctrinal Research
Chair: Szilárd Gáspár-Szilágyi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Pluricourts, University of Oslo
Feedback loops between investment treaty arbitration and international investment treaties
Presenter: Laura Letourneau-Tremblay, Research Fellow, University of Oslo
Comment: Chiara Giorgetti, Professor, University of Richmond
Presenter: Mikael Madsen, Director, iCourts Centre of Excellence, University of Copenhagen
Comment: Mavluda Sattorova, Senior Lecturer, University of Liverpool
Presenter: Taylor St John, Lecturer in International Relations, University of St Andrews
Comment: Mikael Madsen, Director, iCourts Centre of Excellence, Uni. of Copenhagen
Methodological challenges in contract interpretation
Presenter: Yuliya Chernykh, Research Fellow, University of Oslo
Foreign Investors’ Obligations in the New Generation Investment Treaties
Presenter: Günes Ünüvar, Postdoctoral Fellow iCourts
Commentator: Ole Kristian Fauchald
18:00 Close
19:00 Dinner
(This conference will be preceded by an internal LEGINVEST planning meeting 9-11am).