In November 2013, the South African government introduced Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill as part of an overhaul of the regulatory framework for foreign investment. Based on its review of bilateral investment treaties, the South African government has already terminated many of its existing BITs. Unlike the bilateral treaties, the proposed Bill provides no obligations regarding ‘fair and equitable treatment’ to foreign investors and excludes recourse to international arbitration. After examining various provisions of the proposed legislation, the…

In the light of several notices invoking provisions of India’s bilateral investment agreements and demanding billions of dollars in compensation, the Indian government decided to put ongoing BIPA negotiations on hold and initiated a review of its model BIPA. The briefing paper critically examines the ongoing review process conducted by bureaucrats with no transparency and wider public consultation. The paper suggests a number of key policy recommendations concerning the design and implementation of a model BIPA. India needs to…