Revisiting Vattel’s Law of Nations to Discern the Classical Principles of the International Investment Law

Abstract

The present paper seeks to examine various issues of the contemporary International Investment Law within the classical international law framework found in Vattel’s Law of Nations written in the mid of the eighteenth century. On study it is found that Vattel’s work is an enriching source for the natural law principles contextually applicable to the contemporary international investment law. It is found that many of the contemporary international law institutions for protection of foreign investments like the scope and standards for protection of foreign investments, principles of reparation, exhaustion of local remedies, diplomatic protection, treaty based protection for foreign investments, measures for peaceful and coercive dispute resolution etc. can be traced in Vattel’s classical work. Contextualization of Vattel’s classical work to the contemporary issues of international investment law has the potential to enrich the contemporary literatures and jurisprudence on international investment law, particularly from the perspectives of pragmatic natural law philosophy.