Sornarajah,Muthucumaraswamy
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lawsorna@nus.edu.sg
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Publication The Unworkability of Balanced Treaties and the Importance of Diversity of Approach among the BRICS(Cambridge University Press, 2018) Sornarajah, M.; LAWThere is much rethinking being done about investment treaties. While some level of uniformity existed when there was institutional direction by the World Bank and hegemonic pressure exerted by states in the Global North, geopolitical power is now shifting in ways that are producing greater diversity in approaches to the field. The evidence seems to indicate that each state that is of sufficient size or power will seek to fashion its foreign investment policy in the context of its own circumstances. This is certainly true for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (the BRICS). Within this group of newly industrializing countries, it is clear that a uniform approach to investment treaties will not emerge, despite avowals to the contrary. In this essay, I offer an assessment of the divergent paths some of these states have taken. I contend that China has emerged as a newly hegemonic actor in international investment in a way that undermines its traditional role as champion for the Third World, and that India's recent attempt to develop a balanced approach to investment treaties is unworkable. Only South Africa has developed an approach that seeks to protect its government's ability to serve the goals of its people by subjecting foreign investment disputes to South African law and courts. Copyright � 2018 by The American Society of International Law and M. Sornarajah.Publication China, India, and International Law: A Justice Based Vision between the Romantic and Realist Perceptions(Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2019-01-01) Sornarajah, M; Wang, J; Assoc Prof Wang Jiangyu; LAW© Asian Journal of International Law 2019. This paper aims to build an analytical framework and a research agenda for a study of the potential impact of the rise of China and India on international law. In the light of the possibility that the two states may, together or individually, make changes in international law and shift it from its present Europe-America moorings, this paper attempts to analyze and answer three topics: (1) the common and different stances of China and India on the existing international legal order; (2) the changes China and India have sought to the international status quo; and (3) the contributions that have been or could be brought by China and India to the development of international law and their implications for the future. It proposes an analytical framework in which these questions are viewed through two lenses: the romantic vision and the realist vision.Publication Sovereign wealth funds and the existing structure of the regulation of investments(2011-06-14) Sornarajah, M.; LAWThe strategic investments made by SWFs in vital economic sectors of the developed states have caused national security concerns. The existing law on foreign investment, which was designed by the developed states to permit liberal flows of foreign investment and emphasize protection against government interference, sits uneasily with recent moves to control SWF investments. The developed states may have to dismantle to a significant extent the international law they had created to protect foreign investment and retreat into principles of sovereignty earlier advocated by the developing states. This will result in dramatic changes to customary law as well as treaty norms and significantly undermine the present structure of investment protection: A complete reversal of the neoliberal vision may occur. This phenomenon provides an opportunity for the examination of how events that lead to the quick making of legal rules in line with a legal theory favoured in a particular political context are, equally quickly, replaced by another set of rules to suit rapid changes in the power balances.Publication On fighting for global justice: the role of a Third World international lawyer(Taylor & Francis, 2016-09-22) Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah; LAWPublication An Overview of the foreign direct investment jurisprudence(2007) Sornarajah, M.; Arumugam, R.; LAWPublication A Justice-Based Regime for Foreign Investment Protection and the Counsel of the Osgoode Hall Statement(2012-11) Sornarajah, M.; LAWDevelopments in international investment arbitration have expanded the scope of investment protection well beyond the intention of states making investment treaties, to the detriment of developing states and their peoples. These developments take place on the basis of the trickle-down theory that wealth enhancement will benefit everyone. Rather, such wealth enhancement has made the rich richer and the poor poorer. The restoration of the law based on normative values, requires the taking of measures described in the Osgoode Hall Public Statement on the International Investment Regime. This article describes the measures advocated by the Statement in their policy context. © 2012 London School of Economics and Political Science and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.