Recent disputes between the country of Argentina and foreign investors have brought to the fore the growing significance of investor-state disputes in international law. Among the issues involved in these cases are the limits of the sovereign immunity doctrine, the challenges of conducting discovery against sovereign states, the extraterritorial jurisdiction of U.S. courts, and the impact of domestic judicial decisions on the United States’ foreign relations. The Maryland Journal of International Law’s 2014 Symposium will focus on these and related questions of international dispute resolution. Chief among the topics arising out of the recent Argentina cases are the impact of bilateral investment treaties on investor-state disputes; the appeal of bilateral investment treaties in the face of increasingly assertive claims by private actors; the force and effect of international arbitration agreements and awards; the significant influence of the New York Convention on the Enforcement of Arbitral Awards; the distinction between treaty-based and contract-based arbitration agreements; international perceptions and the role of the United States as a forum for arbitration and litigation; the relationship between U.S. courts and the country’s status as a financial center; competition among global arbitration centers; and choice of venue and choice of law provisions in arbitration agreements. The Symposium will also provide a platform to explore the most significant recent trends in private commercial dispute resolution in the international arena. The Symposium will bring together leading international arbitration and litigation experts and practitioners to engage in a lively conversation on these issues.
This event is cosponsored by the Maryland Journal of International Law and ASIL's Holtzmann Center for International Arbitration.