Pushing the Boundaries: Rethinking International Law in Light of Cosmopolitan Obligations to Developing Countries

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 3-55
Author(s):  
Graham Mayeda
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
International Law ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
State Practice ◽  
Investment Law

SummaryThis article argues for a change in the normative assumptions of international law so as to attenuate the historical marginalization of developing countries. It describes a form of collective responsibility called “cooperative cosmopolitanism” that requires individuals and states to take responsibility for harms to those beyond their borders. Cooperative cosmopolitanism entails obligations shared by all that are realized collectively and cooperatively. Taking a phenomenological approach and relying on examples of areas of international law (especially international investment law) that have a disproportionately negative impact on developing countries, the article suggests five ways in which international law should evolve in order to take better account of our cosmopolitan obligations: (1) widening the ambit of international law beyond state-based issues; (2) de-emphasizing state practice andopinio jurisas criteria for creating international law; (3) recognizing an increased role for equity in international law; (4) broadening state responsibility to include harms caused by their nationals abroad; and (5) articulating a cosmopolitan understanding of the responsibility to protect foreign nationals.

The Last Citadel! Can a State Claim the Status of Persistent Objector to Prevent the Application of a Rule of Customary International Law in Investor–State Arbitration?

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
PATRICK DUMBERRY
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Actual State ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
State Practice ◽  
The Status ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Judicial Recognition ◽  
Do So

AbstractLike all rules of customary international law, those existing in the field of international investment law are binding on all states. According to the theory of the persistent objector, however, a state is not bound by a rule if it objected to it in the early stages of its formation and continued to do so consistently thereafter. This paper analyses the different grounds of criticism that have been raised against the concept. We found that there is only very weak judicial recognition of the concept, that there is no actual state practice supporting it, and that it is logically incoherent. Specifically, this paper argues that the concept should not be successfully used in investor–state arbitration proceedings to prevent the application of a custom rule by an arbitral tribunal. This is essentially because of the great importance of the few custom rules existing in that field and the fact that they represent universally recognized values.

Diligentia quam in suis as a Technique for a Contextual Application of the Full Protection and Security Standard: Considering the Level of Development of Host States in International Investment Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 596-611
Author(s):  
Nitish Monebhurrun
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Local Means ◽  
Security Standard ◽  
Maximum Protection ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Full Protection

With international investment law as the background to this study, the present article examines how the full protection and security standard can be construed from the perspective of developing states hosting foreign investments. The research delves into classical public international law to argue that the diligentia quam in suis rule can be used as a means of interpretation to strike a balance between foreign investors’ and developing states’ interests when construing the full protection and security standard. The rule provides that any expected due diligence from the state party is necessarily of a subjective nature. This means that developing host states must deploy their best efforts to offer maximum protection to foreign investors not on an in abstracto basis but as per their local means and capacity. Accordingly, the standard is presented as an adaptable and flexible one which moulds its contours as per the level of development of the host state. Such flexibility does not imply condoning states’ abuse and negligence. The article explains how the diligentia quam in suis rule enables a conciliation between the full protection and security standard and the host state's level of development while rationalising the standard's application to developing nations.

On Inter-Disciplinary and Inter-Systemic Approaches to International Investment Law

2015 ◽  
pp. 557-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Kurtz
Keyword(s):  
International Investment ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
Expiry Date ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Secondary Literature ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
State Practice ◽  
Investment Law

This review essay identifies two fundamental flaws in much of the secondary literature examining international investment law. The first is a clear attention to disciplines other than law in identifying and understanding the justifications for constraints on state regulation vis-à-vis foreign investment. Secondly, there are stubborn vestiges of self-containment among a sizeable set of legal commentators in this field. This typically reaches its apotheosis in instinctive and hostile opposition to usage of lessons and techniques employed in international trade law. Measured against the direction and nature of contemporary state practice, this type of older commentary is rapidly approaching an overdue expiry date. Prospects in International Investment Law and Policy marks a welcome and significant break from these flawed pathologies. Many of the contributions will shape the contours of innovative and important scholarship in this field. It is a collection that merits careful and repeated consideration.

scholarly journals Private Actors, Public Goods and Responsibility for the Right to Water in International Investment Law: An Analysis of Urbaser v. Argentina

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Edward Guntrip
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Water Supply Services

International investment law balances public and private interests within the broader framework of international law. Consequently, when water supply services, which constitute a public good, are privatized and operated by foreign investors, questions arise regarding whether foreign investors could be held responsible for the right to water under international law. This article considers how the tribunal in Urbaser v. Argentina allocated responsibility for compliance with the right to water between the host State and the foreign investor when resolving a dispute over privatized water services. It highlights how the tribunal in Urbaser v. Argentina supports different understandings of public and private based on whether the human rights obligation is framed in terms of the duty to respect or protect. The article argues that the tribunal’s rationale overcomplicates the process of allocating responsibility for violations of the human right to water when water supply services have been privatized.

23. International Investment Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surya P Subedi
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Investment ◽  
International Regulation ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Finance Law ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Investment Law

This chapter discusses the development and current state of international investment law, which encompasses international finance law, international trade law, international investment law, and regional economic trade agreements. Recent progressions in the area of international financial law, international trade law, and investment law demonstrate that other areas of international regulation have a decisive influence on international investment law. Moreover, international investment law is more increasingly focused on development concerns. International investment law is currently going through an exciting phase in its development. It has now become one of the fastest changing areas of international law with exciting and far-reaching implications for both investment-receiving and investment-exporting countries, thanks to enterprising claimants and innovative interpretations and expansive approaches adopted by international investment tribunals. This chapter seeks to capture the law and the recent trends in both State practice and jurisprudence in this area of international law.

Investment Contracts and International Law: Charting a Research Agenda

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 353-368
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Cotula
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Investment Protection ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Regulatory Powers

Abstract Investment contracts are an important part of the web of legal relations that underpin investment processes. They raise complex doctrinal issues, including with regard to their interface with public international law. The two books under review are part of a new surge in academic writing about investment contracts, in a field that is currently dominated by concerns about investment treaties and treaty-based arbitration. In this review essay, I explore the intersections between investment contracts and international law, engaging with the arguments presented in the two books and developing reflections based on trends in the wider literature. After situating the contract in academic and policy debates about international investment law, I compare the different approaches the two books embody – in relation to their scope, focus and format as well as the ways in which they conceptualize and piece together the multiple commercial and public interests at stake in investment contracting. I then discuss one theme that features prominently in both books – namely, the legal contours of investment protection, particularly in connection with stabilization clauses – and I examine its articulation with public regulatory powers. I conclude by outlining areas that deserve further exploration in scholarly work on investment contracts and international law.

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