Regulating Responsible Business Practices for Human-Centered SDS: an Analysis of Recent Developments in International Investment Legal Framework of Developing Countries

Abstract

To navigate foreign investment for sustainable development, this paper investigates the recent trends in investment treaty practices and the local investment legal frameworks of developing countries to regulate responsible business practices to address community- based obligations - public health, social, human rights and environmental protection. The demand for sustainable development-oriented investment treaties with new legal rules for the promotion of community-based obligations are gaining significant importance to ensure the consistent nexus between human-centered sustainable development strategies (SDS) and investment regulations. In the recent past, though, developing countries have taken potential steps to inculcate such rights, more precise terms are needed to promote ‘responsible business practices’ while demarcating the role of actors in the field of investment. It argues that one sensible approach for the better management of such obligations in terms of foreign investment would be the practice of bilateral investment treaties (BITs). In this context, this research provides an empirical analysis of recently concluded BITs, selected Model laws and national laws of foreign investment involving developing countries, to examine the extent to which these legal frameworks ensure the community- based obligations through the lens of human-centered SDS to better promote responsible investments.