At the Barricades of Formal Law

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Weber famously described formally rational law as the most exacting form of law which facilitates economic development by providing continuous, predictable, and efficient administration of justice. Formally rational law can thrive only if substantive elements exogenous to the legal system, such as those advanced by certain class interests or ideological movements, are kept at a safe distance. The chapter examines how investment law professionals conceive of the regime for investor protection as exhibiting features of formally rational law. Like Weber, they also resist the substantively irrational—pejoratively labeled ‘politics’—from entering investment law’s domains.</jats:p>