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September 2010:

UNCTAD “G 15 of Law Schools” Initiative During the recent World Investment Forum 2010 held inXiamen, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched the so-called “G-15 of Law Schools” initiative. The University of Vienna Law School is one of fifteen law schools from around the globe participating in this international project.

This project aims at drawing together a select group of law schools with a demonstrated commitment to international investment law. Participating law schools contribute to exploring mutual interests, facilitate academic opportunities, and develop ideas related to investment law and policy.

As part of the project “International Investment Law in the Practice of Arbitration”, Prof. August Reinisch and Dr. Christina Knahr, together with other members of the Section of International Law and International Relations, who are specializing in the field of international investment law, will offer their expertise and participate in this international initiative. More information about this project is available from the “G 15” blog website (registration required) at https://www.g15law-unctadpilot.org/blog/

 

January 2010: 

The proceedings of the Vienna International Arbitration Forum 2008 have now been published:

Christina Knahr/Christian Koller/Walter Rechberger/August Reinisch (eds), “Investment and Commercial Arbitration – Similarities and Divergences” (Eleven International Publishing 2010)

About the book:

This book contains the contributions to the Vienna Arbitration Forum on “Investment and Commercial Arbitration – Similarities and Divergences” which took place at the University of Vienna/Law School in November 2008. The conference focused on topical issues in international investment arbitration and in commercial arbitration. Procedural questions arising in both of these areas are very similar. Featuring speakers from academia as well as legal practice, the Vienna Arbitration Forum addressed controversial topics from an investment arbitration perspective as well as a commercial arbitration point of view and explored similarities and divergences. In four parallel structured sessions Christina Knahr and Julia Mair (both University of Vienna) spoke about “Consolidation of Proceedings in Investment and Commercial Arbitration”, Stephan Wittich (University of Vienna) and Franz T. Schwarz (Wilmer Hale, London) addressed “The Limits of Party Autonomy in Investment and Commercial Arbitration”, Irmgard Marboe (University of Vienna) and Vladimir Pavic (University of Belgrade) dealt with the issue of “Annulment of ICSID Awards” and “Challenge of Arbitral Awards before Domestic Courts”, and Noah Rubins (Freshfields, Paris) and Christopher Kee (Deakin University) spoke about “Independence, Impartiality and Duty of Disclosure in Investment and Commercial Arbitration”.

For information on how to order please click here.

 

October 2008:

Vienna International Arbitration Forum

On 21 November 2008 Professor Walter H. Rechberger, Department for Civil Procedure Law, and Professor August Reinisch, Department for European, International and Comparative Law, co-hosted the “Vienna International Arbitration Forum” on “Investment and Commercial Arbitration – Similarities and Divergences”. The Conference took place at the University of Vienna and focused on topical issues in international investment and commercial arbitration. It featured speakers from academia as well as practitioners. Christina Knahr and Julia Mair (both University of Vienna) spoke about “Consolidation of Proceedings in Investment and Commercial Arbitration”, Stephan Wittich (University of Vienna) and Franz T. Schwarz (Wilmer Hale, London) addressed “The Limits of Party Autonomy in Investment and Commercial Arbitration”, Irmgard Marboe (University of Vienna) and Vladimir Pavic (University of Belgrade) dealt with the issue of “Annulment of ICSID Awards” and “Challenge of Arbitral Awards before Domestic Courts”, Noah Rubins (Freshfields, Paris) and Christopher Kee (Deakin University) spoke about “Independence, Impartiality and Duty of Disclosure in Investment and Commercial Arbitration”. The Conference was very well attended, particularly by members of the Austrian arbitration community, and the presentations were followed by engaging debates about the topical issues identified by the speakers.

Pictures of the Conference are available here

 

September 2008:

The result of the Conference on Standards of Investment Protection which took place at the University of Vienna Law School in September 2007 has now been published with OUP:

August Reinisch (ed.), Standards of Protection in International Investment Law (OUP, 2008), available from Oxford University Press at:

http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199547449.

Based on a conference held at the University of Vienna by the International Law Association Committee on the Law of Foreign Investment on Standards of Investment Protection, this book examines the growing interest in substantive treatment standards as a result of the increase in investment arbitration proceedings, and focuses on the identification of a possible consensus of interpretation of these substantive treatment standards.

With contributors who are members of the ILA Committee, as well as renowned experts in the field of investment law from academia and practice, this collection examines the increased attention paid in recent years to substantive treatment standards as a result of the growing number of investment arbitration proceedings which have reached the merits stage. ICSID, NAFTA, UNCITRAL and other awards have helped to provide more specific meaning to the general standards of investment protection found in the majority of international investment instruments, in particular in bilateral investment treaties (BITs). It is thus crucial for a deeper understanding of the present law on the treatment of foreign investment to analyse this developing jurisprudence. This book will provide a first-hand road-map of current investment law and bring readers up to date concerning the most recent developments in the field.

 

April 2008:

Investment Conference at Harvard Law School

On 19 April 2008 Prof. Reinisch and Dr. Knahr attended a conference organized by the International Law Society at Harvard Law School on “The Backlash against Investment Arbitration". At this conference a number of renowned experts in the field addressed the topical question of whether one could currently witness a backlash against investment arbitration. In his speech Prof. Reinisch focused on the issues raised by parallel proceedings and provided some solutions. Dr. Knahr addressed the role of annulment in the context of conflicting awards.


Guest Lecture Series in Paris

From April 3-10 2008 Prof. Reinisch gave a series of guest lectures in Paris.

International Investment Law in the Practice of International Arbitration
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