Abba Kolo: Investor Protection vs Host State Regulatory Autonomy during Economic Crisis: Treatment of Capital Transfers and Restrictions under Modern Investment Treaties

Capital liberalisation was the norm of international economic relations until the Economic Depression of the 1930s, when exchange restrictions became an important instrument of economic policy for many countries. The IMF Articles of Agreement was the outcome of efforts by several countries to provide an acceptable international legal framework that would minimise the negative impact of exchange restrictions while at the same time preserving the right of member states to impose exchange restrictions when faced with balance of payment problems. That position is to a large extent maintained by most modern investment treaties. This article explores the treatment of capital transfer restrictions under these treaties: how they have been or should be interpreted by courts and international tribunals in a manner that protects investor rights while maintaining the regulatory autonomy of host states.

Abba Kolo is a Lecturer in Energy/International Investment Law at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law & Policy at the University of Dundee, Scotland.

Valentina Vadi: Access to Essential Medicines & International Investment Law: The Road Ahead

The complex regulatory web protecting intellectual property at the international level has caused growing concerns with regard to access to essential medicines. Access to essential medicines is a component part of the right to health and as such is a human right fundamentally related to human dignity and the right to life. This contribution investigates the particular intersection between investment treaties, intellectual property and the right to health. As investment agreements regulate IP, the questions that arise in this connection are two. First, are investment agreements compatible with state international obligations to protect public health? Second, if internal measures aimed to protect public health can be challenged by foreign investors, is mixed arbitration a suitable forum to protect public interests?

Valentina Vadi is a PhD candidate at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. She holds the degrees of M Research (Eui, Florence), JD (Siena), M Jur (Oxon) and M Pol Sc (Siena).

Amit M. Sachdeva: International Investment: A Developing Country Perspective

Direct annexation, these days, is hardly resorted to as means of colonization by those with continued or acquired imperialistic ambitions. Newer, more subtle and indirect means are in vogue. One such post-Second World War invention is "foreign investment". Enormous literature has been, and its being, produced highlighting the micro benefits— in an attempt to shift the focus from its potential macro harms—under the guise of an "equitable economic development". Undoubtedly, foreign investment, in all its forms, is not bad; what, however, is bad is a regime which denudes a State of all rights to regulate the movement of foreign capital, requiring Parties to disregard entirely their national priorities and citizens' welfare and which is yet susceptible, as is any other instrument, to unpredictable "politically motivated" interpretations. Inherent within such a regime are the seeds of colonialism, which may, perhaps, be better spoken of as ultra-neo-colonialism. Any such regime is therefore detrimental to the interests of a developing country.

Amit M. Sachdeva is an advocate at the High Court of Delhi, India. He holds a Diploma from The Hague Academy of International Law; an LL.B. (Hons.) from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi (Gold Medalist); and a Pgdsbl from the Indian Law Institute (Gold Medalist).

Rudolf Adlung: The Contribution Of Services Liberalization To Poverty Reduction: What Role For The Gats?

There are various conceivable links between services liberalization and poverty reduction, including the efficiency effects associated with increased competition in intermediate (infrastructural) services, income transfers generated by workers moving abroad, or the mobilization of private investment for social policy purposes. Arguably the most promising option for interested governments, regardless of complementary moves by trading partners, is the opening of, and creation of favourable investment conditions in, core infrastructural services. However, apart from basic telecommunications, both the Uruguay Round schedules and the offers submitted in the Doha Round to date have remained disappointing in this respect. Effective services liberalization, as measured by the share of phase-in commitments in total commitments, has occurred mainly in the context of WTO accessions and Preferential Trade Agreements. Given the apparent lack of political impetus in broader-based trade rounds, this article discusses options, in particular from the viewpoint of smaller and poorer participants, as to how the submission of more meaningful offers could be encouraged.

Rudolf Adlung is a Senior Economist at the Trade in Services Division of the Wto Secretariat.

Meir Perez Pugatch: Measuring the Strength of National Pharmaceutical Intellectual Property Regimes in Eight Countries: Using a Pharmaceutical IP Index to Benchmark India

This article uses a pharmaceutical intellectual property (IP) index to measure the level of protection provided by India to pharmaceutical intellectual property rights (Iprs). It finds that India is currently placed at the lower end of the spectrum, with a weak level of pharmaceutical IP environment. Out of a maximum score of 5, India currently scores 1.82. This score is significantly lower than the pharmaceutical IP level of developed and developing countries, such as the US (scoring 4.64), the UK (4.39), Singapore (4.40), Chile (3.0) Israel (2.89), China (2.6) and Brazil (2.0). The pharmaceutical intellectual property index was developed by this author in 2003 and was first published in 2006. Its aim is to measure the national strength of the pharmaceutical intellectual property environment of a given country in a systematic and coherent manner.

Meir Perez Pugatch is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Public Health of the University of Haifa, Israel and Director of Research at the Stockholm-Network.