The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has published the2022 ICSID Rules and Regulationsfor resolving international investment disputes, which come into effect on July 1, 2022.
The updated rules for arbitration, mediation, conciliation, and fact-finding are the outcome of over 5 years of collaboration with State officials, legal counsel, adjudicators, businesses representatives, and civil society. They incorporate innovations designed to make ICSID cases more efficient for parties, to broaden access to ICSID’s facilities and services, and to ensure greater public transparency in the conduct and outcome of proceedings.
This is the first amendment to the ICSID rules since 2006, and the most extensive modernization of ICSID procedures in the Centre’s history.
Innovations introduced in the 2022 Rules and Regulations include:
Tom DannenbaumAssociate Professor of International Law, Tufts University
Alex De WaalResearch Professor and Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation at The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Daniel MaxwellHenry J. Leir Professor in Food Security, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
Disclosure statement
Alex de Waal is affiliated with the World Peace Foundation.
Daniel Maxwell receives funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). He is a member of the Famine Review Committee for IPC analysis.
Tom Dannenbaum does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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A hideous contradiction is playing out in war-torn Ukraine. Thousands of Ukrainians are starving in cities besieged by Russian forces. Meanwhile, the country’s grain stores are bursting with food, and the government is begging for international assistance to export Ukrainian grain to world markets.
Cooking, cleaning, laundry, childcare—domestic labor is essential labor in any society. In Vietnam, a rapidly growing middle class has produced skyrocketing demand for paid domestic workers—both live-in and hourly—particularly in large metropolises like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and domestic workers have become an important part of the gig economy.
Vấn đề điện hạt nhân tiếp tục được đề cập tại kỳ họp Quốc hội vừa qua. Theo Ủy ban Kinh tế, với lộ trình giảm phát thải tiến tới đạt mức phát thải ròng bằng 0 vào năm 2050, đây là lĩnh vực cần được nghiên cứu, xem xét trong quá trình phát triển giai đoạn tiếp theo.
Quốc hội nước ta đã phê duyệt chủ trương xây dựng nhà máy điện hạt nhân Ninh Thuận năm 2009 và Thủ tướng đã phê duyệt quy hoạch 8 địa điểm xây dựng các nhà máy. Năm 2016 vì các lý do khách quan, Quốc hội ban hành nghị quyết dừng thực hiện dự án này. 8 địa điểm đã được quy hoạch trong quyết định của Thủ tướng, trong đó có 2 địa điểm ưu tiên tại Ninh Thuận (Phước Dinh và Vĩnh Hải) được sử dụng cho nhà máy điện hạt nhân đầu tiên, đến nay về nguyên tắc đang được bảo lưu, chờ quyết định mới của Thủ tướng.
Tại nghị trường vừa qua, một đại biểu đề nghị xóa bỏ quy hoạch các địa điểm này, số khác muốn duy trì để sử dụng khi tái khởi động dự án điện hạt nhân Ninh Thuận trong tương lai. Bộ trưởng Bộ Công Thương thì khẳng định việc dừng thực hiện chủ trương đầu tư dự án điện hạt nhân Ninh Thuận không có nghĩa là “hủy bỏ”. Như vậy đây là vấn đề còn bỏ ngỏ, chờ quyết định cuối cùng của cấp có thẩm quyền.
Trong những ngày liên tục có các lãnh đạo, nhân viên ngành y bị bắt, tôi nhận được nhiều lời động viên, an ủi và cả câu hỏi rằng, chỗ chúng tôi “có xao động gì không”.
Tôi không xao động, không bối rối vì những sự việc ấy xảy ra dễ hiểu. Nhiều nguyên nhân dẫn đến hành vi phạm pháp trong ngành đã được nói đến từ lâu. Có thể kể đến: Mức đãi ngộ thấp dẫn tới tham nhũng vặt để “tự cứu lấy mình”; Bổ nhiệm lãnh đạo không đủ rõ ràng, thậm chí không căn cứ vào chuyên môn, mở đường cho “yếu tố” đồng tiền xuất hiện; Những kẽ hở của pháp luật như mời chào người ta phạm luật, không khác gì cái bẫy.
Giá thuốc là một cái bẫy, một nguyên nhân dẫn đến tham nhũng trong ngành y, điều mà những người lăn lộn trong ngành sẽ thấy rõ.
By Tran Đinh Hoanh Tran Đinh Hoanh is an international litigator and writer in Washington DC.
[TĐH: I’ve tried to make this piece ultra-short, simple, and easy
to remember, with sufficient citations for those who’d like to dig
deeper into UNCLOS]
During China Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin’s Regular Press Conference on June 13, he responded to a Bloomberg question concerning the legal status of the Taiwan Strait. Asked about Chinese military officials’ contention that the Taiwan Strait does not constitute “international waters,” he said that Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China’s territory. …According to UNCLOS and Chinese laws, the waters of the Taiwan Strait, extending from both shores toward the middle of the Strait, are divided into several zones including internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, and the Exclusive Economic Zone. China has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait.”
He went on to say that calling the strait international waters is “a false claim” by “certain countries” searching for a pretext for “threatening China’s sovereignty and security.”
The Quadrilateral grouping of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States (the Quad) has come a long way from its origins, establishing itself as a crucial pillar of the Indo-Pacific regional architecture and significantly shifting in tone and focus from its early iterations. Since its revival in 2017, the Quad has been elevated to a leader-level dialogue, it has begun issuing joint statements, and it has developed a new working-group structure to facilitate cooperation. It has also significantly broadened and deepened its agenda to include vaccines, climate change, critical and emerging technologies, infrastructure, cyber, and space.
These recent changes to the Quad raise several questions about its future trajectory. What are the drivers of engagement, the domestic support, and the bureaucratic capacity in the four countries to continue investing in the Quad? How well does the Quad’s new working-group structure function, and will the working groups be able to deliver tangible results? How has the Quad’s agenda evolved, and will it return to its initial focus on security challenges? Are the Quad countries open to cooperation with additional countries and, if so, what form will this take?
This paper analyzes these questions drawing on recent publications, official statements, and interviews with key experts and policymakers in the four countries. In doing so, it offers five key takeaways into the Quad as an evolving part of the Indo-Pacific architecture, as well as a vehicle for achieving the goals of its four member countries.
Since its revival in 2017, the Quad has been elevated to a leader-level dialogue, it has begun issuing joint statements, and it has developed a new working-group structure to facilitate cooperation
First, in terms of institutionalization and internal goals, there is little interest among the member countries in further institutionalizing the Quad by establishing a secretariat or adopting a charter. All four consider the flexible nature of the grouping to be an asset. At the same time, the Quad partners have increased their alignment on strategic issues and aim to continue doing so in the near future by solidifying ties within the grouping.
Skin-lightening products have exploded in their availability on major social media platforms where there are few rules about how they are promoted or sold. With some products containing potentially toxic ingredients, consumers could be at risk.
Written by:Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Editors: Meera Senthilingam, Eliza Anyangwe; Illustrations: Kathy Kim; Data journalist: Carlotta Dotta; Researchers: Elizabeth Yee, Jacqui Palumbo
Updated 20th June 2022
Editor’s note: This story is part of ‘White lies‘, a series by CNN’s As Equals investigating skin whitening practices worldwide to expose the underlying drivers of colorism, the industry that profits from it and the cost to individuals and communities. For information about how CNN As Equals is funded and more, check out our FAQs.
Once primarily sold in markets and beauty stores, skin-lightening products have exploded in their availability online and today, they are pervasive on every major social media platform.
On Facebook and Instagram, vendors hawk creams and serums that promise lighter skin yet offer scant information about the products themselves, while on YouTube and TikTok you can find thousands of tutorials by people promoting potent products or home remedies without qualifications that support their claims. On TikTok alone, the hashtag #skinwhitening has over 254 million views, while #skinlightening has another 62 million.
“Social media has become the most powerful tool right now for the sale of skin-lightening products,” says Dr. Anita Benson, Nigeria-based dermatologist and founder of the Embrace Melanin Initiative to combat colorism and harmful skin-lightening practices in Africa.
Leonard Matana. 69, filling up a plastic container with water at a communal tap in the township of Kwanobuhle in South Africa.
By Riaan Marais for CNN and Derek Van Dam, CNN Photographs by Samantha Reinders and Riaan Marais for CNN
Updated 0055 GMT (0855 HKT) June 21, 2022
(CNN)Every day, Morris Malambile loads his wheelbarrow full of empty plastic containers and pushes it from his home to the nearest running tap. It’s much further than the usual walk to the kitchen sink — just a little under a mile away — but it’s not the distance that bothers him.
It’s the bumpy road — which runs between tightly packed shanty dwellings and beige public-funded houses — that makes balancing containers filled with 70 liters of water on his return a pain.
“Home feels far when you are pushing 70 kilograms of water in a wheelbarrow,” said the 49-year-old resident from the impoverished South African township of Kwanobuhle.
How much reliance should be placed on the major international human rights NGOs? Can they be trusted to work without bias? How are they governed?
These are subjects I discussed recently in a short paper done for the Council on Foreign Relations’ Diamonstein-Spielvogel Project on the Future of Democracy. It is entitled Human Rights NGOs: “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” and can be foundhere. Tiếp tục đọc “Human Rights NGOs: “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?””→
TTCT – Dù thể thao Việt đã có nhiều thành tích đáng tự hào, chúng ta còn phải học người Thái dài dài.
Đêm 5-6, làng bóng chuyền thế giới chấn động với chiến thắng 3-2 của đội nữ Thái Lan hạng 15 thế giới trước đội hạng nhì Trung Quốc tại giải Nations League 2022 ở Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ.
Xem trận đấu này mới thấy thất bại 0-3 của các cô gái Việt Nam, hạng 84 thế giới, trước Thái Lan ở chung kết SEA Games 31 hai tuần trước tại Quảng Ninh là chuyện bình thường.
Đội tuyển bóng chuyền Thái Lan đã vươn tầm thế giới. Ảnh: Volleyball World
Challenging the regime’s legitimacy at home and abroad, Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) foreign minister Daw Zin Mar Aung, 45, has engaged with foreign governments and parliaments, international aid agencies and Myanmar’s many armed groups.
However, the elected lawmaker from the ousted National League for Democracy and winner of the 2012 International Women of Courage Award said international assistance is largely limited to moral support.
She exclusively tells The Irrawaddy about the importance of international support, including funding and arms, Myanmar’s friends and foes and how it receives different treatment from Ukraine.
It has been more than a year since the revolution against military rule was launched. We heard the revolution has received no assistance from foreign countries. Why is that?
It is mainly because the international community regards the crisis as a domestic issue if we compare it with the Ukraine war. It is widely believed that countries should not interfere in domestic affairs.
Yangon in February last year protests after the military coup.
TTCT – VFF cần một kế hoạch dài hơi và bài bản cho các đội tuyển trẻ, nhất là ở khâu tuyển chọn HLV.
Mặc dù không lọt vào được bán kết U23 châu Á, nhưng màn trình diễn ấn tượng của các cầu thủ Việt Nam dưới tay HLV Gong Oh Kyun được khen ngợi rất nhiều, nhất là bởi lối chơi táo bạo, không sợ thua – một lối đá phù hợp với sân chơi trẻ, nhằm rèn luyện cho tương lai.
Ảnh: VFF
Chính vì tạo được thiện cảm, nên khi nghe tin có khả năng ông Gong hết việc để làm ở VN, dư luận khá bức xúc.
NYT – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has civilians in Taiwan taking China’s aggression more seriously.
Civilians participating in a battle simulation during a combat medic training workshop near Taipei in May. Since the war in Ukraine began, a growing number of Taiwanese have been making their own preparations for war.Credit…Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
Taiwan has spent more than seven decades under the threat of an invasion: China sees the island as a breakaway part of its territory. In the months since Russia invaded Ukraine, Taiwanese citizens have come to view a Chinese incursion as a more serious possibility than ever. My colleague Amy Qin, who’s based in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, recently reported on how the island is preparing. I called her to learn more.
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CVD 