Dr Roberto Castro de Figueiredo is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Buckingham. He specialises in international economic law, with particular expertise in international arbitration, international investment law, international trade law and international intellectual property law.
Roberto has held academic appointments at several universities in the United Kingdom, including St Mary’s University, the University of Bedfordshire, BPP University, Middlesex University and UCFB. His teaching experience encompasses international commercial and investment arbitration, international trade law, international intellectual property law, international business law and sports law, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Roberto holds a PhD in Law from Queen Mary University of London and an LLM in International Dispute Resolution and Management (Distinction) from the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee. He also holds a law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, a Specialisation Certificate in the Law of International Relations from the University of Vienna, and a Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP University. He also undertook postdoctoral research at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon on the arbitrability of patent disputes, for which he was awarded a distinction.
Roberto’s research focuses on international investment law and arbitration, the interpretation of international treaties, and the relationship between international investment law, international trade law and intellectual property rights.
Alongside his academic career, Roberto has extensive experience in legal practice internationally. He is qualified to practise law in Brazil and Portugal and is a barrister in England and Wales (Gray’s Inn). He was a partner in the international arbitration practice of Mayer Brown LLP and previously practised at Sergio Bermudes Advogados in Brazil, and at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP in Washington, DC. His professional experience includes acting as an advocate before courts and arbitral tribunals, serving as a legal expert and acting as an arbitrator.
Publications
Books
A Arbitrabilidade da Nulidade da Patente em Portugal e Brasil [The Arbitrability of the Validity of Patents in Portugal and Brazil] (2026)
Contributions to edited books
ICSID Convention and the VCLT: Interpreting the Term ‘Investment’, in The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties in Investor-State Disputes: History, Evolution and Future (2022)
The Notion of Investment and Economic Development under the ICSID Convention, in ICSID Convention after 50 Years: Unsettled Issues (2017)
A Anulação das Sentenças Arbitrais “Incompletas” e a Sentença Arbitral Complementar [The Annulment of “Uncomplete” Arbitral Awards and the Supplementary Arbitral Award], in A Reforma da Arbitragem (2016)
Fragmentation and Harmonization in the ICSID Decision-Making Process, in Reshaping the Investor-State Dispute Settlement System: Journeys for the 21st Century (2015)
Journal Articles
An Analysis of the Interpretation of the Territorial Requirement in Investment Treaties by Arbitral Tribunals and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Journal of World Investment and Trade (2024)
The Investment Requirement of the ICSID Convention and the Role of Investment Treaties, American Review of International Arbitration (2015)
As Origens do Uso da Arbitragem Como Modo de Solução de Controvérsias em Disputas Relativas a Investimentos [The Origins of the Use of Arbitration as a Dispute Settlement Method in Investment Disputes], Revista Brasileira de Arbitragem – Edição Especial (2011)
Alabama Claims: Decision of the Arbitrators Respecting National Losses, Revista Brasileira de Arbitragem (2011)
Mobil v. Venezuela: The Nationality Requirement under the ICSID Convention, Yearbook on Arbitration and Mediation (2011)
Euro Telecom v. Bolivia: The Denunciation of the ICSID Convention and ICSID Arbitration under BITs, Transnational Dispute Management (2009)
ICSID and Non-Foreign Investment Disputes, Transnational Dispute Management (2007)
Other publications
TRIPS in Dispute: 30 Years of Intellectual Property Rights in the WTO Dispute Settlement System, Kluwer Patent Blog (16 December 2025)
Trump’s Reciprocal Tariff Policy, Multinationals, and Investment Treaties, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (19 September 2025)
The United States-Ukraine Minerals Deal and MFN Clauses in Ukrainian Investment Treaties, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (24 May 2025)
The British Steel Takeover and the UK-China Bilateral Investment Treaty, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (1 May 2025)
Challenging the Validity of Patents by Way of Defence: Recent Decision of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice, Kluwer Patent Blog (20 November 2024)
Interpreting Investment Treaties in Good Faith: Whose Good Faith?, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (4 October 2024)
The ICSID Convention and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties – A Paradox, Cambridge International Law Journal Blog (16 November 2022)
Brazilian President’s Assent to the Bill on the Compulsory Licensing of COVID 19 Vaccines’ Patents, Kluwer Patent Blog (14 September 2021)
TRIPS COVID-19 Waiver, Patent Breaking and Investment Treaty Arbitration, Kluwer Patent Blog (27 July 2021)
Brazilian Senate Approves Bill on the Compulsory Licensing of COVID-19 Vaccines’ Patents, Kluwer Patent Blog (12 May 2021)
The Petrobras Crisis: Arbitrating Investors’ Claims Against the Brazilian Federal Government, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (6 March 2021)
Misapplying the General Rule of Treaty Interpretation: The Salini Test, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (3 December 2019)
Brazil: Arbitration Law Reloaded (co-authored with Dr Mark C. Hilgard and Ana Elisa Bruder), Financier Worldwide (August 2015)
Amendments to the Brazilian Arbitration Law: Supplementary Arbitral Awards and Excess of Power, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (19 June 2015)
Evolving Meaning: The Interpretation of Investment Treaties and Temporal Variations, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (21 March 2015)
Previous Decisions in Investment Arbitration, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (23 December 2014)
Interpreting Investment Treaties, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (21 October 2014)
Question Mark on the Arbitrability of Disputes Arising out of Public Contracts in Brazil, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (22 October 2010)
Need to find someone else? Visit our Staff Finder