China’s International Investment Strategy: Towards a Relational Normativity

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 921-937
Author(s):  
Matthias Vanhullebusch
Keyword(s):  
Investment Strategy ◽  
International Investment ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Individual Subject ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
International Rule ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract The edited volume under discussion aims to shed light on China’s international investment strategy along the bilateral, regional and global prong. In doing so, the contributors have sought to answer whether China is a rule-shaper or rule-breaker of international investment norms and whether it will be further liberalizing its domestic market for foreign investment. Despite their comprehensive analysis of individual subject areas where tensions arise between China investment practice at home and overseas and international standards, the reasons for China’s contradictory normative conduct in its various investment relationships remain underexplored. This article calls for a reconceptualization of the sources from which international investment law derives its binding force, namely based on relational normativity. This approach can transcend anxieties about China’s past, present, and future investment strategies and strengthen the normativity of the international rule of law with one of the world’s most prominent economic players instead.

Africa’s Voice in the Formation, Shaping and Redesign of International Investment Law 

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 455-481
Author(s):  
Makane Moïse Mbengue
Keyword(s):  
Active Role ◽  
International Investment ◽  
African Union ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Africa has often been presented as an ‘investment rules taker’, despite its longstanding contribution to the formation and shaping of the international investment regime. The present contribution seeks to analyze why Africa has been perceived as such and attempts to shed light on the active role that African countries have played since their independence in the development of the investment regime and also in the promotion of the ICSID system. The contribution also explores new avenues that are provided through the ‘Africanization’ of international investment law and their impact on the current redesign of the investment regime. It finally suggests options regarding the current negotiations of an Investment Protocol at the level of the African Union and ways to reinforce synergies between ICSID and the African Union.

Submarine Cables and Pipelines: The Protection of Investors Under International Law

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 860-889
Author(s):  
Markos Karavias
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
International Investment ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Contractual Arrangements ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Potential Applicability ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Submarine Cables ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Submarine cables and pipelines hold great significance for the global economy, as they constitute key features in energy transit and transmission of telecommunications data. Whereas the two have traditionally been treated by scholars through the lens of the international law of the sea, far less attention has been paid to the potential applicability of international investment law in this field. The present article seeks to shed light on this latter question. First, it reviews the most common treaty and contractual arrangements in place vis-à-vis submarine cables and pipelines. It then turns to international investment law with a view to examining whether investment treaties have a say on the protection of investors in the laying of submarine cables and the construction and operation of submarine pipelines. One of the more vexed questions in this respect is the territorial scope of investment law, in particular as regards the seabed beyond national jurisdiction.

International Investment Law and Domestic Investment Rules: Tracing the Upstream and Downstream Flows

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-33
Author(s):  
Steven R Ratner
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Domestic Investment ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Domestic Law ◽  
Two Bodies ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract International investment law and domestic law governing foreign investment strongly influence one another and indeed operate in a relationship of co-dependency or interoperability. Yet the flows between the two bodies of law, and their respective modalities of influence, remain generally unexplored in international legal theory. To shed light on this important phenomenon, this article traces the ways in which international investment law can affect the content of domestic investment law, using theories of international law compliance as a lens for such an understanding. It then proposes a set of pathways by which domestic law can influence the content of international investment rules. International law thus depends upon national law not only for its implementation but for its very content. Indeed, the regime of investment law will not tolerate significant discrepancies between the two. An appreciation of this dynamic is critical to evaluating the prospects of improvements to international investment law and can inform the ongoing discussions among stakeholders to this end.

The Evolution of National Security at the Interface Between Domestic and International Investment Law and Policy: The Role of China

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-139
Author(s):  
Lizzie Knight ◽  
Tania Voon
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
International Investment ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Investment Agreements ◽  
International Rule ◽  
China’S Economy

Abstract As China’s economy grows and the global economy increasingly digitalises, security takes on heightened significance. Security exceptions exist in numerous investment agreements and domestic regulatory frameworks for reviewing foreign investments. These reviews have shifted to focus on China, particularly for investments involving data. Continued expansion of security as a basis for rejecting investment applications threatens economic integration, while allowing international tribunals to review these decisions by ruling on this exception may be counterproductive. Alternatives exist at domestic and international levels. Domestically, a focus on evidence-based assessments and the imposition of conditions may mitigate security concerns. International guidelines and principles are already established to assist investors and investment agencies. Further international rule reform may allow agreed solutions to data concerns in place of security as a catch-all response to perceived threats of foreign investment.

scholarly journals Assumption of Jurisdiction by Pakistani Supreme Court in Reko Diq Case: Another Violation of International Investment Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-657
Author(s):  
Muhammad Mumtaz Ali Khan ◽  
Ikram Ullah ◽  
Aisha Tariq
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
International Markets ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Domestic Court ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
Investment Law

Purpose: This paper discusses that Pakistani judicial approach to separability, arbitrability and grounds to assume jurisdictions to decide these mattes does not sit well with the ICSID jurisprudence. Design/Methodology/Approach: Qualitative approach has been used. Findings: The Supreme Court’s judgment in Reko Diq is discussed in the light of awards rendered by ICSID to establish that the jurisdiction to decide the separability of arbitration agreement, arbitrability of a dispute or subject matter does not rest with a domestic court where parties have already conferred jurisdiction to determine these matters to ICSID and that Pakistani court cannot use any ground to assume jurisdiction over these matters.    Implications/Originality/Value: The paper concludes that the judicial system of Pakistan needs reforms to formalize and ascertain the role of domestic arbitration councils in alignment with the ICSID. This will help Pakistani firms competing in international markets to get necessary legal support at home in line with international standards.

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