Fifty years after the adoption of the Declaration on Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1962, this volume assesses the evolution of the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources into a principle of customary international law as well as related developments. International environmental and human rights law leave unresolved questions regarding the limitations of this principle, e.g. extraterritorial and international influences such as the applicable criminal and tort law, as well as the extraterritorial and international promotion of good governance, including transparency obligations.

The growing importance of international investment law, fuelled by the processes of globalisation and the search for natural resources, and fostered by the ease of cross-border financial flows, has given rise to a huge expansion in the incidence of new investment treaties and, consequently, disputes. The complexity of this area and the enormous sums of investment involved mean that the agreements and treaties themselves are highly evolved, while the disputes arising are often hugely intricate and intractable. No area of international law is more in need of the careful and balanced attention of scholars. Anyone interested in international investment law will appreciate this comprehensive, thoughtful and detailed exploration of this area.