General provisions

Determined on June 28, 2013 by Faculty of Law’s Teaching Committee, Uppsala University, by virtue of Chapter 6 Section 14 and 15 of the Higher Education Ordinance. The course plan enters into force on July 1, 2013.

In General

The course is 15 university points (15 ECTS credits) and an optional course at advanced level in the studies for the degree of Master of Legal Science, according to the degree requirements adopted 3 September 2012 by the Board of the Faculty of Law of Uppsala University. The course is held in English.

Entry requirements

Be admitted to the Master Programme in Investment Treaty Arbitration.

Learning outcomes

At completion of the course, the successful student will have:

• an advanced and detailed knowledge of public international law and how it protects 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

Grading criteria

The grades given are Fail (U), Pass (B), Pass with credit (Ba), and Pass with distinction (AB).

For the grade “B”, the student is required to achieve all the learning outcomes in a descriptive, summary, thoughtful and analytical fashion.

For the next grade “Ba”, in addition to the requirements for grade “B”, the student is required to demonstrate the capability of taking an analytical approach through structured, independent and critical thinking.

For the highest grade, “AB”, in addition to the requirements for grade “Ba”, the student must demonstrate good analytical skills through well-structured, well-thought thoughts and critical thinking, enabling him/her to take positions based on convincing arguments and a high degree of independence.

Content

The course 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.

Instruction

Instruction is mainly given in the form of seminars. In addition, a few lectures will be held as well as a number of mock arbitrations. Participation in all sessions is compulsory. The teacher responsible for the course may, however, grant exemptions in extraordinary cases.

The instruction is based on the annexed list of literature.

Assessment

The examination takes the form of a written test at the end of the course. On extraordinary reasons a student will be able to perform the final exam in another way, for example at an oral exam. The grades given for the course are Fail (U), Pass (B), Pass with credit (Ba), and Pass with distinction (AB). In order to pass the course, all the obligatory phases of the course must be completed. Students who fail are provided a re-take examination.

The examination is a so-called open book test which means that all course material may be used.