Our People

Dr David Collins


Key Sectors
  • Trade & Commodities 
  • Insurance & Reinsurance
  • Construction & Engineering 
  • Internet, Media & Advertising 
  • Natural Resources 
Practice Areas
  • Arbitration 
  • International Investment 
  • International Economic Law
  • Banking & Finance
  • Commercial 
  • Consultancy
Dr David Collins teaches and researches in the field of international economic law at the City Law School of City University London. He specialises in the law of the World Trade Organization and international investment law.

He is a fellow of the Institute for Globalisation and International Regulation at Maastricht University and a visiting professor at ESADE Law School in Barcelona, and serves on the editorial board of the Manchester Journal of International Economic Law. 

Dr Collins has been a visiting fellow at a number of academic institutions including Georgetown University, Columbia University and the University of Hong Kong. His first monograph, The BRIC States and Outward Foreign Direct Investment, was published by Oxford University Press in 2013.
  • Attorney and Counselor at Law, New York, USA, 05/2008
  • Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, 08/2004 
  • Barrister and Solicitor, Notary Public, Ontario, Canada, 02/2001 
  • Board of Editors, British Journal Of Interdisciplinary Studies
  • External Examiner, International Economic Law, University Of Manchester
  • Fellow, Institute For Globalization And International Regulation, Maastricht University
  • Current Development Editor, Manchester Journal Of International Economic Law
  • Maastricht University, Faculty of Law, PhD 
  • University Of Oxford, Faculty of Law, LL.M 
  • University Of Oxford, Master of Science (MSc) 
  • University Of Toronto, Faculty of Law, JD
  • University Of Toronto, Honours Bachelor of Arts (BA Hon, High Distinction)
  • English (Native)
Books 

  • The World Trade Organization: A Beginner’s Guide (Oneworld Publications, 2014) [forthcoming]
  • The BRIC States and Outward Foreign Direct Investment (Oxford University Press, 2013)

Book Chapters 

  • “National Treatment in Emerging Market Investment Treaties” in A Kamperman Sanders ed. The National Treatment Principle in a EU and International Context (Edward Elgar, 2014) [forthcoming]
  • “Canada’s Sub Central Government Entities and the Agreement on Government Procurement: Past and Present” in S Arrowsmith and R Anderson eds. The WTO Regime on Government Procurement: Challenge and Reform (Cambridge University Press, 2011) 175- 196
  • Articles 
  • “Measuring Gross Disproportion in Environmental Precaution to Establish Regulatory Expropriation and Quantum of Compensation in International Investment Arbitration” with Philip Thomas, (2014) 37:2 European Journal of Law and Economics [forthcoming]
  • “The Chaos Machine: The WTO in a Social Entropy Model of The World Trading System” (2014) 34:2 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies [forthcoming]
  • “ICSID Annulment Committee Appointments: Too Much Discretion to the Chairman?” (2013) 30:4 Journal of International Arbitration 333-344
  • “Alternative Dispute Settlement for Stakeholders in International Investment Law” (2012) 15:2 Journal of International Economic Law 673-700
  • “Sustainable International Investment Law After the Pax Americana: The BOOT on the Other Foot” (2012) 13:2 Journal of World Investment and Trade 325-348
  • “Applying the Full Protection and Security Standard of International Investment Law to Digital Assets” (2011) 12:2 Journal of World Investment and Trade 225-243
  • “Revisiting Canada’s Sub-Central Commitments Under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement” (2010) International Public Procurement Forum II Conference Proceedings 269-280
  • “Environmental Impact Statements and Public Participation in International Investment Law” (2010) 7:2 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 4-23
  • “A New Role for the WTO in International Investment Law: Public Interest in the Post Neoliberal Period” (2010) 25:1 Connecticut Journal of International Law 1-35
  • “Settlement Agreements, Legal Knowledge and the Mistake of Law Rule in Contract” (2010) 61:1 Northern Ireland Law Quarterly 1-15
  • “Health Protection at the World Trade Organization - The J-Value as a Universal Standard for Reasonableness of Regulatory Precautions” (2009) 43:5 Journal of World Trade 1071-1091
  • “Efficient Breach, Reliance, and Contract Remedies at the WTO” (2009) 43:2 Journal of World Trade 225 - 244
  • “Reliance Remedies at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes” (2009) 29 Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business 101-122
  • “Compulsory Arbitration Clauses in Domestic and International Consumer Contracts” (2008) 19:2 King’s Law Journal 335-355
  • “Efficient Allocation of Property Rights on the Planet Mars” (2008) 14:2 Boston University Journal of Law and Technology 201-220
  • “Canada’s Sub Central Coverage Under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement” (2008) 17 Public Procurement Law Review 21-40
  • “Canada’s Prohibition of Automated Bank Machine Service Charges as a Violation of the WTO GATS” (2007) 4:3 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 43-61
  • “Fairtrade City Policies and WTO Agreement Violation” (2006) 3:2 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 67-81
  • “Institutionalized Fact Finding at the WTO” (2006) 27 University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Economic Law 367-387
  • “Public Funding of Class Actions and the Experience with English Group Proceedings” (2005) 31 Manitoba Law Journal 211-238
  • “Spies Like Them: The Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Its Place in World Intelligence” (2002) 24 Sydney Law Review 505-528
  • “Age of the Living Dead: Personality Rights of Deceased Celebrities” (2002) 39 Alberta Law Review 914-933 [reprinted in T Duarte and B Tarantino eds. Canadian Film & Television: Business & Legal Practice (Canada Law Book, 2014)]

Reviews and Comments

  • “Book Review: Ravi Nath ed. Doing Business in the BRICS” [2014] 2 International Trade Law and Regulation 39-40
  • “Review of 2013 ICSID Decisions” (2013) 10:3 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 423-442
  • “Book Review: Development at the WTO by Sonia E Rolland” (2013) 76:3 Modern Law Review 648-650
  • “Review of 2012 ICSID Decisions” (2012) 9: 3 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 339-342
  • “Book Review: World Trade Law After Neoliberalism by Andrew Lang” (2012) 9: 2 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 226-228
  • “Russia’s Accession Reinforces WTO” The Financial Times, 30 July 2012
  • “Book Review: The Public International Law Regime Governing International Investment by Jose Alvarez” (2012) 75:3 Modern Law Review 467-468
  • “Review of 2011 ICSID Decisions” (2011) 8:3 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 111-116
  • “Book Review: Foreign Direct Investments from Emerging Markets edited by K Sauvant” Manchester Journal of International Economic Law (2011) 8:1 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 101-103
  • “Review of 2010 ICSID Decisions” (2010) 7:3 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 60-66
  • “Book Review: The Effect of Treaties on Foreign Direct Investment edited by K Sauvant and L Sachs” (2011) 74:2 Modern Law Review 325-327
  • “Book Review: Socially Responsible Investment Law: Regulating the Unseen Polluters by Benjamin Richardson” (2010) 73:3 Modern Law Review 689-691
  • “Book Review: State Responsibility in Investment Treaty Arbitration: Global Constitutional and Administrative Law in the BIT Generation by Santiago Montt” (2010) 7:1 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 71-73
  • “Book Review: Economics of the Law: A Primer by Wolfgang Weigel” (2010) 69:1 Cambridge Law Journal 207-209
  • “Book Review: International Economic Law, Second Edition by Andreas Lowenfeld” (2009) (2010) 73:2 Modern Law Review 346-348
  • “Review of 2009 ICSID Decisions” (2009) 6:3 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 128-134
  • “Book Review: Principles of International Investment Law by Rudolf Dolzer and Christoph Schreuer” (2009) 6:2 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 191-194
  • “Book Review: Constitutionalizing Economic Globalization: Investment Rules and Democracy’s Promise by David Schneiderman” (2009) 68:2 Cambridge Law Journal 231-232
  • “Book Review: International Economic Law: The State and Future of the Discipline by Colin Picker, Isabella Bunn, Douglas Arner eds.’ (2009) 25 Banking and Finance Law Review 629- 634
  • “Book Review: Boilerplate: The Foundation of Market Contracts” Omri Ben-Shahar ed. (2009) 72:1 Modern Law Review 130-132
  • “Review of 2008 ICSID Decisions” (2008) 5:3 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 143-153
  • “Book Review: International Economic Law and the Digital Divide: A New Silk Road? By Rohan Kariyawasam” (2008) 11:3 Journal of International Economic Law 699-701
  • “Book Review: The World Trade Organization: Law, Economics and Politics by Bernard M Hoekman and Petros C Mavroidis” (2008) 11:3 Journal of International Economic Law 702- 704
  • “Book Review: Human Rights and the WTO. The Case of Patents and Access to Medicines by Holger P Hestermeyer” (2008) 5:2 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 156- 158
  • “Book Review, Financial Stability, Economic Growth and the Role of Law by Douglas W Arner” (2008) 71:1 Modern Law Review 156-158
  • “Book Review, Cultural Products and the World Trade Organization by Tania Voon” (2007) 4:3 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 73-77
  • “Review of 2006 ICSID Decisions” (2006) 3:3 Manchester Journal of International Economic Law 111-121
  • “Recent Developments in Tobacco Class Action Litigation from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice” (2006) 39:2 University of British Columbia Law Review 389-396

Speaking Engagements / Conferences

  • “The WTO and the Environment: The Impact of International Trade on the Environment” Public Interest Environmental Law Annual Conference, Cass Business School, City University London, (London, UK) 04/14
  • “Health Protection at the World Trade Organization - The J-Value as a Universal Standard for Reasonableness of Regulatory Precautions” The Hazards Forum, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, (London, UK) 06/13
  • “India and Services FDI: The WTO and International Investment Law” Asian Law Institute Conference, National Law School of India (Bangalore, India) 05/13
  • “Book Launch: The BRIC States and Outward Foreign Direct Investment” Arnold & Porter LLP (London, UK) 04/13
  • “National Treatment in Emerging Market Investment Treaties” The National Treatment Principle in a EU and International Context, Maastricht University (Maastricht, Netherlands) 01/13
  • “Methods and Instruments of WTO Dispute Settlement and Problems With Decision Enforcement” International Conference: Russia in the World Trade Organization: New Tools to Protect Business, International Chamber of Commerce, World Trade Center (Moscow, Russia) 10/12
  • “Russia’s Accession Reinforces the WTO” International Conference: Evolution of the International Trading System, Saint Petersburg State University Faculty of Economics, 10/12 (St Petersburg, Russia) [keynote speaker]
  • “Dispute Settlement at the World Trade Organization and Recent Caselaw” The American Chamber of Commerce, 07/12 (Moscow, Russia)
  • “Sustainable International Investment Law of the Pax Americana: The BOOT on the Other Foot” Visiting Scholar’s seminar series, Columbia University Law School, 11/11 (New York, NY, USA)
  • “Informal Home State Dispute Settlement for Foreign Direct Investment In Africa” Conference, Africa International Economic Law Network, Mandela Institute, University of Witswatersrand, 05/11 (Johannesburg, South Africa)
  • “Revisiting Canada’s Sub-Central Commitments Under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement” Conference, Government Procurement, Chinese Central University of Finance and Economics, 11/10 (Beijing, China)
  • “Applying the Full Protection and Security Standard of International Investment Law to Digital Assets” Visiting Scholar seminar series, Asian Institute of International Financial Law, University of Hong Kong, 09/10 (Hong Kong SAR)
  • “Environmental Impact Statements and Public Participation in International Investment Project Finance” Seminar series, Institute for Globalization and International Regulation, Maastricht University, 04/10 (Maastricht, Netherlands)
  • “Environmental Impact Statements and Public Participation in International Investment Law” Visiting Scholar seminar series, University of Sydney Law School, 08/09 (Sydney, Australia)
  • “A New Role for the WTO in a Multilateral Investment Treaty: Public Interest in the Post Neoliberal Period” Visiting Scholar seminar series, World Trade Institute, University of Bern, 05/09 (Bern, Switzerland)
  • “The J-Value Standard for Reasonableness of Health Protection Measures at the WTO” Conference, Italian Society of Law and Economics, University of Bologna, 11/08 (Bologna, Italy)
  • “Monetary Remedies and the Reliance Measure at the WTO” Annual Conference, Athens Institute of Education and Research, 07/08 (Athens, Greece)
  • “Efficient Breach, Reliance, and Contract Remedies at the WTO” Graduate Student Conference, York University Osgoode Hall Law School, 05/08 (Toronto, Canada) [keynote speaker]
  • “Efficient Breach, Reliance and Contract Remedies at the WTO” Seminar series, Institute of International Economic Law, Georgetown University Law Center, 03/08 (Washington DC, USA)
  • “Public Funding of Class Actions and the Experience with English Group Proceedings” Graduate student seminar series, University of Oxford Faculty of Law, 03/05 (Oxford, UK)