Call for Papers

The Athens Public International Law Center (AthensPIL) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Faculty of Law is hosting, in the context of the Investment Law Initiative, a Colloquium on ‘International Investment Law & the Law of Armed Conflict’, which will take place on October 5 & 6, 2017, in Athens, Greece. Details on the submission procedure and key dates can be found at the end of this call.

The Colloquium on ‘International Investment Law & the Law of Armed Conflict’ is jointly organized by the AthensPIL of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Faculty of Law (Greece); the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS); the Research Centre on Procurement Law and International Investment (CREDIMI) of the University of Burgundy (France) and the University of Zaragoza (Spain). These academic and research institutions joined forces in 2016 and established the Investment Law Initiative, an international collaboration aimed at strengthening research and systemic analysis of international investment law. The Colloquium is coordinated by Dr Katia Fach Gómez (University of Zaragoza, Faculty of Law)[1], Dr Anastasios Gourgourinis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of Law; Athens PIL), and Dr Catharine Titi (CNRS and CREDIMI, University of Burgundy).

 

Colloquium theme

Recent events in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Crimea have (unsurprisingly) brought to the surface various systemic concerns regarding international investment protection and arbitration. Investment claims and scholarly literature increasingly illustrate the wide-ranging linkages between international investment law and the law of armed conflict. Hence, the Colloquium on ‘International Investment Law & the Law of Armed Conflict’, aiming to chart the terrain of this multifaceted and complex relationship, could not be more timely.

To this end, international lawyers are invited to submit abstracts on the following, fairly broad, suggested topics:

o Unlawfulseizuresofterritoryininter-stateandinvestor-statearbitrationproceedings

o ‘Warclauses’ininvestmenttreaties

o ‘Essentialsecurityinterests’exceptionsininvestmenttreaties

o Force majeure, military necessity and other circumstances precluding wrongfulness in investment claims involving armed conflict

o Protectionandsecuritystandardsandduediligenceobligationsofhoststatesduringarmed conflict

o Obligations under investment treaties relating to pre-conflict military activities by host states

o Denialofbenefitsincaseofarmedconflict
o Systemic overlaps between investment protection law and international criminal law

arising from investment relations with entities engaged in armed conflict

o Armedconflictandtheroleofadministeringinstitutionsininvestmentarbitration

o Divergence and convergence between international investment law and the law of belligerent occupation

o Implications of armed conflict for jurisdiction and admissibility in investor-state arbitration (e.g. territory, nationality, state succession etc.)

o The effect of economic sanctions on investors’ rights and investment arbitration proceedings

o OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas: towards a socially responsible investment law?

o Terminationandsuspensionofinvestmenttreatiesasaconsequenceofarmedconflict
o Investment arbitrators’ mandate vis-a-vis the obligation not to recognize as ‘lawful’ a

situation created by an illegal use of force and/or the acquisition or occupation of territory

o Transnational (or truly international) public policy and investment arbitration in claims involving armed conflict

o Recognition and enforcement of investment arbitral awards stemming from cases involving armed conflict

o Scope for judicial dialogue and cross-fertilization between the investment protection and armed conflict regimes

 

Guidelines for Submission

Senior and junior academics and practitioners (including PhD candidates and post-doctoral researchers) are invited to participate in the call for papers of the Colloquium on ‘International Investment Law & the Law of Armed Conflict’. Authors are invited to submit by March 15, 2017, an abstract (of an original paper) which is neither published nor accepted for publication when the Colloquium takes place. Papers will be selected on the basis of submitted abstracts, subject to double-blind peer review. Only one abstract per author will be considered. Abstracts must not exceed 800 words, must be anonymous and not identify the name or affiliation of the author(s) in the abstract, the title, or the name of the document, and must be submitted to the following email addresses: agourg@law.uoa.gr; cathy_titi@hotmail.com; and katiafachgomez@gmail.com. In addition to the abstract, each submission should contain, as a separate file, a short (one page) author’s CV, including the author’s name and affiliation and contact details and a list of relevant publications.

Authors of selected abstracts for the Colloquium will be notified by April 15, 2017. Following this, they must submit a draft paper (6,000-8,000 words) by August 15, 2017. The draft papers will be distributed to the other participants in advance to facilitate an in-depth discussion during the Colloquium – a ‘no paper – no podium’ policy applies.

After the Colloquium, submission of final papers by authors is due by November 30, 2017. Selected final papers will be published by Springer, subject to peer review, in the Special Issue of the European Yearbook of International Economic Law (EYIEL) on ‘International Investment Law & the Law of Armed Conflict’.

Venue, participation and registration

The Colloquium will be held at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Participation in the Colloquium will be open to the public, but registration will be necessary. Authors of accepted abstracts will be expected to bear the costs of their own travel and accommodation.

Key dates

• March 15, 2017: Deadline for the submission of abstracts • April 15, 2017: Announcement of accepted abstracts

• August 15, 2017: Deadline for draft paper submission (6,000-8,000 words – ‘no paper – no podium’)

• October 5 & 6, 2017: Colloquium
• November 30, 2017: Deadline for final paper submission for publication