Dr. Günes ÜNÜVAR

• Current position

  Güneş Ünüvar is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Luxembourg Centre for European Law (LCEL), University of Luxembourg.

• Research

  His research generally focuses on international space law and international economic law, as well as the intersection between the two. Among some of his current research topics are the regulation of outer space as ‘environment’; the protection of foreign investments in outer space activities; the role and function of decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) and decentralised finance (DeFi) in the space sector; Chinese and Luxembourgish space regulation and policy; the investor-State dispute settlement reform under the auspices of the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL); and the interaction between treaty-making and the arbitral interpretations of substantive principles in international investment agreements (IIAs). He has widely published on these topics, and his work has appeared in prestigious journals such as the Journal of International Dispute Settlement, Chinese Journal of International Law, European Papers, and Leiden Journal of International Law. His first two monographs, forthcoming from Springer and Onikilevha in English and Turkish respectively in 2025, will address the relationship between arbitral practice and investment treaty design regarding indirect expropriation and fair and equitable treatment clauses. The research focuses primarily on the newly negotiated treaties on foreign investment protection by the European Union.

  He regularly teaches and gives invited talks on space law, international investment law, and international economic law all around the world. He is the Managing Editor of the Journal of World Investment & Trade (Brill). He is also an observer at the UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) on behalf of the Moon Village Association; as well as at the UNCTIRAL Working Group III on ISDS Reform on behalf of the Centre of Excellence for International Courts (iCourts), University of Copenhagen. During his PhD, he conducted visiting research stays at Columbia University in New York, and the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium.

• Awards/ Distinctions

  He has received a number of awards, distinctions, and scholarships; including a prestigious Fellowship from the Academy of International Affairs NRW in Bonn, Germany in 2024, to conduct research on outer space regulation and environmental protection within the context of increased private activities in outer space. He was awarded a Carlsberg Foundation Postdoctoral Research Scholarship in 2016 for a research project on multilateral investment courts, one of the most prestigious scholarships of its kind in Denmark and Scandinavia. He was also the winner of the Junior Chamber International (JCI)’s “Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP)” Programme in the category of “Political, Legal and/or Governmental Affairs” in 2015, and a PhD scholarship from the Danish National Research Foundation to conduct his research at the Centre of Excellence for International Courts (iCourts), University of Copenhagen. He is a Full Member of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL). In 2024, he was elected to the Steering Committee of the Academic Forum on Investor-State Dispute Settlement and currently acts as its Communications Officer. In the past decade, he has attracted numerous conference grants from, among others, Carlsberg Foundation, Dreyers Foundation, as well as the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of Denmark.

• Work experience

  Güneş acts as an affiliate Counsel on space law and regulation for the Luxembourg-based law firm WOUD. He is a former Partner and current Of Counsel for the Ankara-based law firm, Özgür Ünüvar Bakiler. He is the Legal Advisor of the Moon Village Association. Between 2021 and 2024, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for International, European, and Regulatory Procedural Law in Luxembourg. Between 2017 and 2021, he was a Carlsberg Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow at iCourts, University of Copenhagen. He is a qualified lawyer in Turkey, and is admitted to Ankara Bar since 2012. He joined the University of Luxembourg in January 2024.

• Educational background

  Güneş has obtained his PhD from the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen in 2016. He obtained his LL.M. on international and European law from the Institute for European Studies (now the Brussels School of Governance), Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2012. He obtained his LL.B. from Bilkent University, Ankara in 2010.

Monographs

• (2026-27) The International Protection of Foreign Investments and International Space Law, Studies in Space Law. (Brill, In contract, forthcoming).
• (2025) Transformation of International Investment Law: Interplay between Interpretation, Application, and Policy-Making, European Yearbook of International Economic Law Series (Springer, forthcoming)
• (2025) Ulusararası ve Avrupa Yatırım Hukuku Anlaşmaları ve Tahkim Uygulamalarının Evrimi: Dolaylı Kamulaştırma ile Adil ve Hakkaniyetli Muamele (International and European Investment Agreements and the Evolution of Arbitral Practice: Indirect Expropriation and Fair and Equitable Treatment, in Turkish). (Onikilevha, forthcoming).

Edited Volumes

• (with Becker, M; Bower, A; Freistein, K et al.) (2025-26) Responsibility in Space (Routledge, forthcoming)
• (with Ayman, R and Hofmann, M) (2025-26) Who Leads the Way in the New Era of Space? The New Actors in International Space Law (Hart Publishing, forthcoming)
• (with Lam, J) (2025) International Investment Law and Environmental Protection (Cambridge University Press, under contract as of 17 July 2024, forthcoming)
• (with Lam, J and Dothan, S) (2020) Permanent Investment Courts: The European Experiment – European Yearbook of International Economic Law Special Issue (Springer)

Journal Articles

• (2025) “Third Party” Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law (Oxford University Press – forthcoming)
• (2025) United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law (Edward Elgar, forthcoming)
• (2025) UNCITRAL Working Group III and ISDS Reform, Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law (Edward Elgar, forthcoming)
• (with Su, X) (2024) “International Legal Governance of Space Resources and the Role of National Frameworks: The Case of China” Chinese Journal of International Law
• (with Küçüksu, A) (2023) “Vulnerability Theory as a Paradigm Shift in International Investment Law: Reimagining the Role of the State” in Business and Human Rights Journal
• (2023) “A Tale of Policy Carve-outs and General Exceptions: Eco Oro v. Colombia as a Case Study” in Journal of International Dispute Settlement
• (2021) “Investment Court Judges and the ‘Right to an Independent Tribunal’: An Assessment of the Qualification and Ethics Rules in EU FTAs in light of Opinion 1/17”, European Papers, vol.6, no. 1, pp. 757-777.
• (2021) “Experts: Investment Arbitration” Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law (Oxford University Press).
• (with Lam, J.) (2019) ‘Transparency and Participatory Aspects of Investor-State Dispute Settlement in the EU “New Wave” Trade Agreements’, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol. 32, Issue 4, pp. 781 – 800.

Book Chapters and Working Papers

• (2024) “Polluting the Shores of the Cosmic Ocean: Reflections on Outer Space as Environment and International Investment Law”, In: J. Lam & G. Ünüvar (eds.) International Investment Law and Environmental Protection (Forthcoming)
• (with Howse, R.) (2022) “Sowing the Seeds of an ISDS Legitimacy Crisis? The Notorious First Wave of NAFTA Chapter 11 Awards” In: H. Ruiz Fabri & E. Stoppioni (Eds.) International Investment Law: An Analysis of Major Decisions – Studies in International Trade and Investment Law: Bloomsbury, pp. 99 – 118.
• (2022) “The Vague Meaning of Fair and Equitable Treatment Principle in Investment Arbitration and New Generation Clarifications” In: A.L. Kjaer & J. Lam (Eds.) Language and Legal Interpretation in International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 271 – 92.
• (2022) “The ‘Object and Purpose’ and Incrementalism in EU Investment Treaties: Can International Law Reinvent Its Identity?” In: K. Raube, J. Chaisse & J. Wouters (Eds.) At the Crossroads of World Order: Contestation, Global Governance and Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 379 – 98.
• (2021) “Article 8.38 – Non-Disputing Party” In: M. Bungenberg and A. Reinisch (Eds.), CETA Investment Law – An Article-by-Article Commentary. Oxford: Nomos/Hart.
• (with Kreft, T.) (2020) “Impossible Ethics? A Critical Analysis of the Rules on Qualifications and Conduct of Adjudicators in the New EU FTAs” In: G. Ünüvar, J. Lam & S. Dothan (Eds.), Permanent Investment Courts: The European Experiment. Cham: Springer Nature, pp. 119 – 50.
• (2020) “Is CETA the Promised Breakthrough? Interpretation and Evolution of Fair and Equitable Treatment and (Indirect) Expropriation Provisions” In: M. Andenas, L. Pantaleo, M. Happold & C. Contartese (Eds.), EU External Action in International Economic Law. The Hague: TMC Asser Press, pp.193 – 219.
• (with Giødesen Thystrup, A.) (2017) “A Waiver for Europe? CETA’s Trade in Services and Investment Protection Provisions and Their Legal-Political Implications on Regulatory Competence” In: A. Micara, F. Baetens, G. Adinolfi & J. Caiado (Eds.), International Economic Law: Contemporary Issues. Cham: Springer, pp. 41 – 59.
• (2016) “The Vague Meaning of Fair and Equitable Treatment Principle in Investment Arbitration and New Generation Clarifications”, iCourts Working Paper Series No. 75.
• (2013) (with Hoffmeister, F) “From BITs to Pieces towards European Investment Agreements” In: M. Bungenberg, A. Reinisch & C. Tietje (Eds.) EU and Investment Agreements: Open Questions and Remaining Challenges. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 55 – 86.
• (2012) Dispute Settlement Alternatives in Future EU BITs: Building the Framework for Investment Protection, IES Working Paper Series, No. 1/2012
• (with Sert, A, Ovacik, G, et al.) (2011) “Türkiye’nin Taraf Olduğu Yatırımların Karşılıklı Korunması ve Teşviki Anlaşmaları” (Bilateral Investment Treaties of Turkey), Ergün, Ç. E. & Çakmak, M. (eds.), Ankara: Çakmak Publications.

Blogposts

• “Teaching Space Law to Younger Generations”, Pulsar Blog, 20 May 2024
• “Meaningful Consensus or Delaying Disagreements? UNCITRAL Working Group III and the Advisory Centre on International Dispute Resolution”, Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 19 May 2024
• “The Mandate Conundrum: Reflections on the 46th Session of the UNCITRAL Working Group III on ISDS Reform”, EJIL: Talk!, 21 November 2023
• “Is There Space for Everyone? Younger Generations and Multi-Stakeholder Engagement in International Space Law and Policy”, Pulsar Blog, Alpha Persei, 6 July 2023
• “‘Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’: The Code of Conduct and Reflections on the 44th Session of the UNCITRAL Working Group III”, Investment Treaty News, International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2 April 2023
• “Can National Laws on Space Resources Serve as Evidence of Customary International Law?”, Opinio Juris, 8 November 2022
• (with Küçüksu, A.) “From Protection to Governance of Foreign Investment: Vulnerability Theory as a Paradigm Shift in International Investment Law”, EJIL: Talk!, 27 December 2019
• “Reforming Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Reflections on the UNCITRAL Working Group III and Beyond”, Turkish Law Blog, 9 May 2019

Other Publications

• (with Sauvant, K) (2016) “Can Host Countries Have Legitimate Expectations?” Columbia FDI Perspectives No. 183.