The Treatment and Taxation of Foreign Investment Under International Law

This is an examination of key issues concerning the treatment of foreign investment and the taxation of investors. It looks at some of the challenges which globalization has thrown up for the international community from a legal perspective and sets recent developments alongside more traditional approaches. Particular attention is paid to the needs and aspirations of developing countries and the implications for them of the current free trade orthodoxy. After outlining the established framework of laws concerning investment protection and taxation, the author looks at experiences in the European Union and the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement and at a range of recent disputes and legal developments to assess whether international legal regimes are responding adequately to meet the needs of states and investors alike. Recent OECD initiatives on taxation and the aborted Multilateral Agreement on Investment negotiations are examined in conjunction with the relevant provisions of the World Trade Organization Agreements.