Foreign Investment in Russia and the CIS

Catalog description

Addresses principal aspects of the legal framework for foreign investment in Russia and other CIS countries. INTER 954 Foreign Investment in Russia and the CIS (2) This is a "hands-on" subject which requires students to analyze and negotiate the essential elements of a foreign investment transaction in the Russian Federation, having regard to those elements of Russian law and legal institutions that any foreign investor will have to be familiar with. The course commences with an introduction to the legal foundations of the Soviet State monopoly of foreign trade, an overview of foreign investment laws in the CIS countries, investment guarantees, the investment vehicles of choice in Russia, elements of private international law, the role of legal opinions, and the settlement of commercial disputes, with special emphasis on arbitration. Most of the course is devoted to "negotiating" a draft charter of a joint-stock or limited responsibility society against the background of relevant Russian legislation.The course aims to offer thorough instruction on the role of the State in foreign investment guarantees, the transaction aspects of foreign corporate vehicles, and the role of arbitration in settling foreign investment disputes.The general historical introduction and subsequent sections are designed to accentuate problems and issues which enable students to master the framework of foreign investment in Russia and the CIS. Accordingly, students of this course should: (1) develop a more profound understanding of alternative approaches to legal reasoning and of legal concepts and institutions within the framework of investment transactions; (2) enhance their skills of legal analysis (3) develop a greater awareness of concepts of legal science and legal system; (4) read in some depth on the contemporary relevant principal legislation and treaties regulating investment in Russia and the CIS and appropriate doctrinal writings.At the end of the course students should: (1) have a sound grounding in how the law of regulating the framework of foreign investment in Russia and the CIS has developed; (2) be more demanding and rigorous in formulating and evaluating ideas and propositions; (3) have a sense of the virtues and limitations of comparison as a method of scientific inquiry in law through the analysis of relevant national legislation; (4) have a thorough command of the main principles and rules of law regulating foreign investment transactions; (5) give evidence of an ability to understand the other side of an argument, and better appreciate the strengths of an opposing view; (6) develop a willingness to question, to probe, to seek further information, and to display initiative in expanding one's knowledge.