TITLE:
Dimensions of the New Belt & Road International Order: An Analysis of the Emerging Legal Norms and a Conceptionalisation of the Regulation of Disputes
AUTHORS:
Malik R. Dahlan
KEYWORDS:
Belt and Road Initiative/B&R Initiative/BRI/OBOR, China, AIIB, Investment, Trade, Dispute Resolution Mechanism, Settlement, ISDS, Arbitration, Mediation
JOURNAL NAME:
Beijing Law Review,
Vol.9 No.1,
March
30,
2018
ABSTRACT: China’s “Belt & Road” initiative (“BRI”) has the potential to
redefine international trade governance and the laws that establish its order.
As a result, new international legal norms are emerging that are
characteristically “Eastern”. With a new international trade and investment
order will come disputes over its interpretation. However, current dispute
resolution mechanisms, including Investor State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”),
may not be efficient in resolving disagreements between the BRI’s participating
states, or investors therein. In order to
overcome this practical challenge, this paper examines some important legal
aspects of the BRI and offers a new concept of dispute regulation in general.
As such, it firstly introduces the BRI as well as the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB), and explores their relationship. Secondly, it tackles
selective legal aspects, norms and questions that are emerging as a result of
the BRI. For the central argument, four traditional dispute resolution mechanisms
are analyzed to inform a new BRI paradigm. This is supported by the special
nature of the BRI, and the unique characteristics of countries participating in
it. The paper is intended to begin a discussion of some emerging trends in
international trade and the rules that relate to it, in the context of the BRI.