Investment Law and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) TDM Call for Papers: The Interaction Between International Investment Law and Special Economic Zones (SEZs)

Proposals (200 words) and authors' profiles (150-200 words) should be submitted to all three editors no later than 1 October 2019. Please CC info@transnational-dispute-management.com when submitting your materials. Full papers should be submitted by 30 December 2019. The release of the special issue is planned for the first quarter of 2020.

The present Call for Papers identifies the following two topics which raise important legal issues for discussion:

General issues of interaction between investment law and SEZs that may include:

• Coherence in investment law and policy making, particularly in relation to the legal infrastructure of SEZs and investment protection rules
• The protection of legitimate expectations of an investor in investment cases involving SEZs
• Indirect expropriation of SEZ investments
• The issue of attribution in investor-state disputes concerning the SEZs
• The assessment and clarification of SEZs in investment and trade agreements (e.g. tax carve-outs etc.)
• The interaction between specific dispute settlement mechanisms within SEZs and national courts and/or investment arbitration tribunals
• The relationship between the special procedures established in the SEZs and potential ISDS disputes
• Issues of non-discrimination between different types of foreign investors operating within and outside of SEZs
• Sustainable development objectives in SEZs and their relationship with IIA investment protection rules
• SEZ-related disputes under national law
• The Belt and Road Initiative: SEZs and foreign investments

Specific case studies focusing on a geographical region/country or on an interesting case involving SEZs that may include:

• Chinese SEZs, e.g. the Shanghai Free Trade Zone
• Investment protection in Kazakhstan’s SEZs
• Indian’s SEZs
• Technology and innovation SEZs and investment protection in Russian Federation
• Specific dispute settlement mechanisms applicable to foreign investors, e.g. the Qatar International Financial Centre (QFC)’s, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the Astana International Financial Centre, etc.

We welcome critical articles on relevant ISDS disputes involving SEZs related measures such as:

• Middle East Cement Shipping v. Egypt
• Yury Bogdanov v. Republic of Moldova
• Gold Reserve v. Venezuela
• Lee John Beck v. Kyrgyz Republic
• Ampal-American and Others v. Egypt
• Union Fenosa Gas v. Egypt

Timeline and submission guidelines:

Proposals (200 words) and authors’ profiles (150-200 words) should be submitted to all three editors no later than 1 October 2019. Please CC info@transnational-dispute-management.com when submitting your materials. Full papers should be submitted by 30 December 2019. The release of the special issue is planned for the first quarter of 2020. Articles accepted for publication ahead of this schedule can also go through Transnational Dispute Management’s (TDM) online advanced publication process, allowing your work to reach its target audience as soon as the paper completes the peer review and editing process. The layout of the articles should conform to TDM’s submission guidelines available atwww.transnational-dispute-management.com/contribute.asp (more information available upon request).

Please feel free to circulate this call for papers amongst friends, colleagues and other people who you think may have an interest in this topic.