Initiated in 2006 by the Center for International Legal Studies (CILS), Suffolk, Pepperdine, DIS, King's College London and CILS established the FDI Moot as an ambitious new international competition focusing on investor-State disputes. CILS organises the FDI Moot with Christian Campbell (CILS) and Christopher Gibson (SULS) acting as directors. The Global venue rotates each year, and meanwhile there are Regionals for Asia-Pacific, South Asia and Africa.
The FDI Moot's Global Advisory Board is composed of distinguished academics and practitioners in international arbitration and international investment regulation. They lend their prestige to the competition and guide its organisers. Their assistance includes supervising the development of each year's case and bench brief, monitoring the mode of competition, and seeking ways to improve access to the FDI Moot for teams from all parts of the world.
A Board of academics and practitioners reviews each year's case proposal, providing the case committees with invaluable guidance in the development of their cases and ensuring the academic integrity and practical relevance of the hypotheticals.
From its orgin as a live round in Nairobi in 2014, the FDI Moot All Africa Regional has been conducted as a virtual round since 2019. This has made it easier for teams from all corners of Africa to compete before arbitrators from every corner of the world, while saving travel costs and reducing our carbon footprint.