BSpace

The British University in Dubai (BUiD) Digital Repository

Welcome to BSpace, the online institutional repository of the British University in Dubai. BSpace provides access to the Dissertations, Thesis, Research projects, Faculty publications and archives of BUiD.

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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

Recent Submissions

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Environmental Regulation, Investment Protection and 'Regulatory Taking' in International Law
(2001) Waelde, Thomas; Kolo, Abba
This article addresses a currently very controversial issue-the question of environmental regulation of foreign investment and the limits on such national regulation by international law, in particular by recently completed and negotiated multilateral investment Treaties.
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Environmental Regulation Investment Protection and 'Regulatory Taking' in international law
(Cambridge University Press, 2001) Kolo, Abba; Waelde, Thomas
THIS article addresses a currently very controversial issue—the question of environmental regulation of foreign investment and the limits on such national regulation by international law, in particular by recently completed and nego-tiated multilateral investment Treaties (MITs). It contributes to the emerging discussion on how and where to draw the line between legitimate non-compensable national regulation aimed at protecting the environment, or `human, animal or plant life or health'l on one hand, and regulation which is `tantamount' to expropriation requiring compensation, on the other. It is a question that is largely responsible for the 1998 collapse of the negotiations for a Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) within the OECD.2 This experience is currently the main obstacle for negotiating multilateral invest-ment agreements—and it has already become a problem for the proper imple-mentation of the already existing ones—in particular the novel and far-reaching investor-state arbitration under Chapter XI of NAFTA and Art.
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Expropriatory Taxation in the Latin American Experience
(BRILL, 2016-04-02) Kolo, Abba
Existen laudos arbitrales emitidos recientemente y algunas reclamaciones en curso relacionadas con impuestos en contra de Estados receptores de todo el mundo, incluyendo los países de América Latina, donde se muestra la propensión de los Estados en el uso del instrumento fiscal para ‘exprimir’ a los inversionistas extranjeros respecto de sus derechos de propiedad. Tal uso o mal uso de las potestades tributarias de los Estados es probable que aumente en un ‘estado de mercado’ marcado por el aumento de la competencia entre los Estados para atraer la inversión extranjera y el papel cambiante del Estado de controlar directamente los ‘puestos de mando’ de su economía hacia una función más reguladora y facilitadora. Por otro lado, el aumento de arbitrajes inversionista-Estado probablemente demuestra la voluntad por parte de los inversionistas extranjeros para aprovecharse de los derechos procesales que les son concedidos en virtud de tratados de inversión, para desafiar las medidas regulatorias impuestas por los Estados receptores, por presunta violación de las obligaciones sustantivas de los tratados, en particular, la disciplina de expropiación. Estos casos ilustran el choque entre un ejercicio del poder del Estado para imponer impuestos –un elemento central de la soberanía nacional– por un lado, y la protección de los derechos de propiedad privada en contra de la expropiación por el Estado, por el otro. En la mayoría de los casos, los inversionistas alegan que las medidas fiscales en litigio son equivalentes a una expropiación indirecta de su inversión, lo que plantea la pregunta: ¿Cuándo una medida tributaria adoptada por un Estado receptor deja de ser un ejercicio legítimo no indemnizable de su poder de recaudación de ingresos y se convierte en expropiación indirecta?
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Dispute settlement and sustainable development of natural resources in Africa
(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011-02-23) Kolo, Abba
To a large extent, the above observation made by the World Bank more than two decades ago in the context of socio- economic development still stands and probably applies with respect to conflicts that threaten sustain able development of the natural resources of most African countries. This chapter argues that inadequate or ineffective (real or perceived) access to justice to those harmed by natural resource exploitation fuels armed conflict in most resource- rich African countries, which in turn threatens sustainable development of the resources. The chapter focuses on the need for future investment treaties and/or natural resources development agree ments in Africa to incorporate key sustainable development principles (such as protection of fundamental human rights and the environment) and to subject these rights to binding international arbitration provision of the treaty or agreement. The chapter suggests that institutionalising good governance through international adjudication of resource- related disputes between host communities and foreign investors/host states is not only desirable but necessary for the sustainable development of such resources in Africa. International adjudication is as important in resolv ing such disputes as it is with respect to disputes between host states and foreign investors.
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Agora – Asymmetry and Equality of Arms: Foreword
(Wolters Kluwer, 2010) Elisabeth Kjos, Hege
This article addresses some procedural challenges that arise primarily in investment disputes—i.e., treaty-based arbitration against states—which concern special procedural privileges invoked by the respondent state and actions specific to a state that may amount to an abuse of its powers, posing a risk to the integrity of the arbitral procedure. It argues that investment treaty arbitration is asymmetrical in nature, as treaty states wield disproportionate powers vis-à-vis private claimants. When deployed inappropriately, such powers can undermine the principle of equality of arms in adjudication. In such situations, there is a duty on the arbitral tribunal to proactively restore the equality of arms affected by an abuse of government powers. The key concept that provides substance to the tribunal’s duty to restore this balance is that of inherent powers.