City Research Online

Abstract

This chapter explores the phenomenon of domestic foreign investment laws (FILs) which set out rights and obligations for foreign investors and host states under domestic legislation of that host state. These instruments are growing in number, and in many cases in complexity, possibly reflecting a decline in the significance of international investment treaties as the major source of legal obligations under international investment law. This chapter examines two main categories of FILs: those which screen foreign investment on the basis of national security risks and those of a more general nature which aim to structure inward foreign investment in a manner that is most economically advantageous to the host state. Legal controversies regarding the status of FILs as unilateral acts of state and related issues of enforceability are discussed, with particular attention given to the issue of consent in FILs to investor-state arbitration.

Publication Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Routledge Handbook on International Economic Law on 16 October 2025, available online: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003399711 It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory J Political Science > JX International law K Law > KZ Law of Nations
Departments:	The City Law School The City Law School > Academic Programmes The City Law School > International Law and Affairs Group
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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