Decisions and guidelines

Determined on September 3, 2012, by the Board of the Faculty of Law, Uppsala University. The education plan enters into force the autumn semester 2013. Revised on May 18, 2015, the revisions enter into force the autumn semester 2014.

In General

The Master Programme in Investment Treaty Arbitration is a full-time, one year post-graduate programme at advanced level for students with a three year (or more) law degree. The programme covers a total of 60 credits, 45 credits for course work and 15 credits for a thesis.

Entry requirements

Academic requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. The main field of study must be Law or Legal Science.

Language requirements

Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6. This requirement can be met either by achieving the required score on an internationally recognised test, or by previous upper secondary or university studies in some countries. Detailed instructions on how to provide evidence of your English proficiency are available at universityadmissions.se.

Aims

The objective of the program is to give the students advanced and detailed knowledge of international arbitration concerning disputes between investors and host States. The principal teacher is Professor Kaj Hobér. Other international experts will also teach during the program.

Learning outcomes

At completion of the programme, the student will have:

• an advanced and detailed knowledge of public international law and international arbitration law relating to foreign investments,
• an advanced and detailed knowledge of relevant case law and legal literature,
• an advanced knowledge of analytical, methodological and theoretical approaches to problems arising in investment treaty arbitrations,
• a good ability to present and explain – orally and in writing – complicated legal and factual issues to a well-informed audience.

Layout of the programme

The Master Programme consists of four modules, each covering 15 credits.

The first module is a general introduction to international arbitration. This module covers all the basic principles and rules of international arbitration. The students will discuss and analyse, inter alia, the arbitration agreement, the appointment of arbitrators, procedural issues, applicable law and enforcement of arbitral awards.

The second module will focus on the protection of foreign investments under international law. This will be done on the basis of treaty law – i.e. bilateral and multilateral investment protection treaties – as well as customary international law. Key concepts such as expropriation, fair and equitable treatment, state responsibility and attribution will be addressed. Another important aspect of this module is treaty interpretation based on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

The third module will address procedural issues in connection with investment treaty arbitration. The focus will be on jurisdictional issues – e.g. the applicability of MFN clauses to procedural issues – confidentiality and transparency, immunity, and enforcement of investment awards.

The fourth module is the preparation of a thesis, the topic of which will be selected together with the course director.

In parallel with modules 3 and 4 the students will participate in a “moot arbitration” organised by and under the supervision of the course director. The moot will start in January and finish towards the end of May with a final oral hearing. The students will be divided into teams with different tasks, such as writing briefs, expert opinions and other submissions.

Instruction

All classes are held in English. All students are expected to participate actively in discussions and other classroom activities.

The teaching is based on the problem based methodology. As a consequence there are very few lectures, but the teaching is based on different forms of seminars. At the seminars problems are discussed and analysed, as well as possible solutions to problems. The students will be divided into smaller groups which are expected to meet and prepare for each classroom session. The students will be required to complete one or several papers during the courses. At the end of each course there will be a written examination.

The grading system includes four alternatives: AB (cum laude approbatur), BA (non sine laude approbatur), B (approbatur) and U (Fail). The seven scale ECTS grading system also applies.

The Master’s thesis must be the individual work of each student. The examination and grading of the thesis is done by the examiner reviewing and approving the text.

Degree

The programme leads to a Master of Laws (60 credits) LLM.