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 the Historical Central Building of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (30, Panepistimiou street, 10679 Athens).

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 Faculty of Law of 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), 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, scholars and practitioners alike, will present papers discussing, inter alia, the following topics:

• Unlawful seizures of territory in inter-state and investor-state arbitration proceedings
• ‘War clauses’ in investment treaties
• ‘Essential security interests’ exceptions in investment treaties
• Force majeure, military necessity and other circumstances precluding wrongfulness in investment claims involving armed conflict
• Protection and security standards and due diligence obligations of host states during armed conflict
• Obligations under investment treaties relating to pre-conflict military activities by host states
• Denial of benefits in case of armed conflict
• Systemic overlaps between investment protection law and international criminal law arising from investment relations with entities engaged in armed conflict
• Armed conflict and the role of administering institutions in investment arbitration
• Divergence and convergence between international investment law and the law of belligerent occupation
• Implications of armed conflict for jurisdiction and admissibility in investor-state arbitration (e.g. territory, nationality, state succession etc.)
• The effect of economic sanctions on investors’ rights and investment arbitration proceedings
• OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas: towards a socially responsible investment law?
• Termination and suspension of investment treaties as a consequence of armed conflict
• 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
• Transnational (or truly international) public policy and investment arbitration in claims involving armed conflict
• Recognition and enforcement of investment arbitral awards stemming from cases involving armed conflict
• Scope for judicial dialogue and cross-fertilization between the investment protection and armed conflict regimes

Colloquium Convenors

• Katia Fach Gómez (University of Zaragoza)
• Anastasios Gourgourinis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
• Catharine Titi (CNRS & University of Burgundy)

Colloquium Scientific Committee

• Elisa Baroncini
• Jonathan Bonnitcha
• Eric de Brabandere
• Tomer Broude
• Marc Bungenberg
• Julien Chaisse
• Michael Ewing-Chow
• Katia Fach Gómez
• Natividad Fernández Sola
• Anastasios Gourgourinis
• Luis Hinojosa
• Lise Johnson
• Vaios Koutroulis
• Ursula Kriebaum
• Sébastien Manciaux
• Martins Paparinskis
• Catharine Titi
• Marina Trunk-Fedorova
• Gus Van Harten

Colloquium Organising Committee

• Artemis Anagnostopoulou
• Maria-Eleni Chrysanthakopoulou
• Eleutherios Dafermos
• Katia Fach Gómez
• Anastasios Gourgourinis
• Vassileios Katsampas
• Athina Kotsia
• Georgios Kouvaras
• Antigoni Matthaiou
• Lina Mavromatidi
• Barbara Metallinou
• Aliki-Athina Papanastasiou
• Dimitrios Stamatis
• Calliope Sudborough
• Catharine Titi
• Marios Tokas
• Hara Tzimi