The College of Law and Public Policy (CLPP) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) hosted a workshop on ‘Comparative and International Investment Law:  Prospects for Reform’, a workshop that dealt with the significant backlash against international investment law and arbitration by governments in different parts of the world.

Some countries have already terminated a number of their Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) and others plan to replace BIT with a domestic law applicable to both national and foreign investors; other states are in the process of developing new types of international investment treaties.

According to workshop organiser and CLPP Assistant Professor Georgios Dimitropoulos, the goal of the workshop was to bring comparative law methodology into the study of international investment law.

Participants at the workshop compared domestic systems to draw general conclusions on the international investment regime, but also to address how international investment law and arbitration has been and should be influencing domestic investment laws.’

The workshop included two panels – both chaired by HBKU CLPP Founding Dean, Clinton W Francis – the first was on ‘Conceptualising the Mutual Interplay between International and Domestic Investment Laws’, and the second on ‘Domestic Investment Law and Policies, and the Reform of International Investment Law’.

Dean Francis highlighted new research initiatives at CLPP which will benefit the college and Qatar, in general. The International Law and Policy Research Programme (ILPRP) was also launched, which he said, is an important outcome of the workshop. The programme seeks to bridge the gap between the academe and industry through research opportunities conducted in collaboration with stakeholders. The ILPRP will play a strategic role in enabling information exchange between international academics and legal practitioners in investment law in Qatar and abroad.

For more information about CLPP, visit the HBKU website at hbku.edu.qa.