This study investiguâtes the use of arbitration in mining disputes within the Tshopo province, specifically between industrial operators and artisanal miners of the Bamanga community concerning revenue sharing. It finds that the perceived legitimacy, fairness, and effectiveness of this mechanism are hindered in practice. Employing a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews, the research identifies key impediments : weak formal institutionalization, the absence of local dispute resolution procédures, a lack of precise arbitration clauses, and limited community awareness of alternative conflict resolution methods. To address this situation, the analysis proposes an integrated operational model. It advocates for the inclusion of a dedicated chapter on local dispute settlement in provincial regulations and standard tender documents, the systematic integration of detailed arbitration clauses in cohabitation or subcontracting agreements, as well as the training of a pool of local arbitrators and community sensitization. The ultimate aim is to establish a sustainable framework, tailored to the local context, for the lasting resolution of mining conflicts.

This article examines the dispute settlement mechanisms under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) through a comparative legal analysis. The study aims to assess how both frameworks regulate international commercial disputes and promote legal certainty in cross-border trade relations. Employing a doctrinal and comparative legal approach, this research analyzes treaty provisions, institutional structures, procedural stages, and enforcement mechanisms governing dispute resolution under RCEP and the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding. The findings indicate that while the WTO provides a more institutionalized and legally binding mechanism, RCEP emphasizes flexibility, consultation, and regional consensus. This article argues that RCEP’s dispute settlement mechanism may complement the WTO framework by offering an alternative forum for resolving international commercial disputes, particularly within the Asia-Pacific region.

The International Investment Arbitration (IIA) method, known as the ISDS mechanism, is majorly divided into two devices: ICSID and non-ICSID arbitrations. The ICSID arbitration mechanism has been the most recognized dispute settlement mechanism formed by the ICSID convention. Non-ICSID arbitrations mainly comprise ways available other than ICSID arbitration, e.g., UNCITRAL, International Chamber of Commerce, London Court of International Arbitration, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, etc. The organic nature of the International Investment regime has led to the progressive practice of dispute settlement mechanisms all over the world since the rise of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) in the nineties. However, the scholarships and empirical studies show that the arbitration panels are not devoid of systemic or institutional biases. This conception is resulting in an era of resistance among the State parties to any BIT. This paper attempts to find out and justify the critique of institutional biases with the help of some secondary data and cases. In addition, the paper shall also include the approaches of South Asian countries as host states in foreign direct investment under specific BIT protection. FENI UNIVERSITY JOURNAL, 2024, 3(1), ISSN [2518-3869], PP. (223-234)

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) establishes a comprehensive international maritime order. Its compulsory dispute settlement system serves as a cornerstone of the LOSC`s architecture. Naturally, compliance with the decisions of the LOSC mechanisms is critical to the functioning of a rules based international legal order. Non-compliance risks undermining the authority of international courts and tribunals and eroding the integrity of the LOSC regime. This article examines the binding force of LOSC dispute settlement decisions, focusing on the implications of the 2016 South China Sea (SCS) arbitration between the Philippines and China. Despite the Tribunal's unanimous award, China has consistently maintained a policy of non-compliance thus far. This defiance, particularly from a great power, causes tensions within the LOSC dispute settlement system. Nonetheless, State Practice shows overwhelming compliance in most cases. This demonstrates that the system remains to be a credible mechanism. The SCS award, while currently resisted by China, provides a strong legal basis that can influence future jurisprudence and state practice. The article notably points out that China's non-compliance may not be permanent.

On 30 September 2018, the US, Canada and Mexico announced they had reached a trilateral free trade agreement in the renegotiation of the NAFTA, concluding more than 13 months of negotiations. The USMCA has been ratified by all three countries and has taken effect as of 1 July 2020. One of its crucial characteristics when it comes to workers’ rights is a facility-specific rapid response labour mechanism, which purpose is to ensure remediation of a “Denial of Rights” of free association and collective bargaining for workers at a Covered Facility, and to ensure that remedies are lifted immediately once a Denial of Rights is remediated (Annex 31-A “Facility-specific rapid response labor mechanism” between the US and Mexico of the USMCA’s Dispute Settlement chapter and separate Annex 31-B between Canada and Mexico). From 2021, the above-mentioned mechanism has been already used by the Department of Labor and the Office of the US Trade Representative on many occasions in order to protect workers’ rights under the USMCA. The author of this paper examines six first cases, namely: GM Silao, Tridonex, Panasonic, Teksid, VU Manufacturing and Saint Gobain. On such basis she draws conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the facility-specific rapid response labour mechanism.

This qualitative study explores land lease practices based on “isi adat” (customary content) in Nagari Muaro Paneh, Solok Regency, focusing on the forms and resolution of land lease disputes. The isi adat tradition, passed down orally without a clear time limit, involves payment in the form of gold, harvest, or labor. The research examines the alignment of this practice with Sharia Economic Law, highlighting issues such as unclear contract terms, elements of gharar (uncertainty), and imbalanced rights and obligations. Data were collected through interviews with 26 landowners and 100 tenants, supplemented by field observations and documentary studies. Data analysis followed the Miles and Huberman model, using reduction, presentation, and conclusion drawing, with source triangulation for validity. Findings reveal four types of land rental transactions: (1) paid adat land rental, (2) adat land rental with clever bamamak, (3) adat land rental leading to sale, and (4) adat land rental resulting in eviction. Disputes include violations of agreements, unauthorized building additions, evictions due to social norm violations, and tenants’ ownership claims. Resolution is predominantly non-litigation, through customary mediation, family negotiations, or unilateral decisions. A critical analysis identifies structural issues, such as uncertainty in contracts and power imbalances, which conflict with Islamic principles of justice (‘adl) and mutual consent (taradin).

The South China Sea territorial conflict emerged following the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) claim over the Ten-Dash Line, which overlaps with the maritime entitlements of several coastal states, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the Natuna area. China bases its claim on historical grounds, a position strongly contested, particularly by the Philippines through arbitration before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2013. Despite the arbitral award, the dispute remains unresolved and continues to generate legal and political tensions. This study employs a normative legal research method to examine the legal implications of the Code of Conduct (CoC) and the Joint Development Agreement (JDA) in managing the South China Sea dispute under international law. The analysis is conducted through examination of international legal norms, principles, and relevant instruments, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The study finds that neither the CoC nor the JDA constitutes a legally binding dispute settlement mechanism. Instead, both function primarily as conflict management instruments aimed at preventing escalation and facilitating cooperation. Consequently, reliance on these mechanisms alone is insufficient to ensure certainty or resolve sovereignty disputes.

Elections are a means for the people to participate in determining the direction of government administration. The basic principle of democratic state life is that every citizen has the right to actively participate in the political process. The purpose of the research is to examine the phenomenology of resolving general election disputes resolved through the judicial process both in the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, to assess the effectiveness of the two judicial institutions in resolving legal issues related to General Elections in Indonesia. The type of research used is literature research, the research approach uses normative juridical, the data source is secondary data that is analyzed qualitatively. The results of the research show that as well as the system of organizing general elections is designed in it, there is always a possibility of violations, for that there is always a reliable institutional mechanism to resolve various types of objections and disputes. The settlement of general election disputes in Indonesia can be resolved by the Election Supervisory Agency, the Judiciary under the auspices of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court. General election disputes that are resolved through judicial institutions under the Supreme Court resolve disputes related to administration and criminal in the implementation of General Elections. Meanwhile, disputes over the results of the general election are within the scope of the Constitutional Court's authority. The appeal decision issued by the Constitutional Court against the dispute over the election results is the final and binding decision and there is no other legal remedy, if it is considered that the two judicial institutions are effective institutions in resolving legal issues related to the General Election in Indonesia.

This study examines the essence, legal nature, and practical application of participatory conciliation procedures in civil litigation in Kazakhstan. The relevance of the topic stems from the increasing caseload, the need to relieve courts, and the growing demand for alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. The aim of the research is to determine the structure, effectiveness, and procedural role of participatory conciliation within civil proceedings. Its core idea is to promote a cooperative mechanism enabling parties, assisted by their lawyers, to reach mutually acceptable agreements. The scientific and practical significance lies in demonstrating that participatory conciliation promotes faster, more cost-effective, and humane settlement of disputes. The methodology involves comparative-legal, systemstructural, historical, and analytical approaches. Foreign models from France, Germany, and Canada are assessed and compared to national practices. Key findings suggest that despite significant potential, implementation is hindered by insufficient regulation, inconsistent professional training, and low legal awareness. The procedure helps reduce court workloads and preserve social balance between parties. The study’s value is in identifying participatory conciliation as a tool for humanizing civil justice. Its practical relevance lies in recommendations for legislative refinement, professional training enhancement, and public legal education.

ABSTRACT Looking at the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) case ‘Gabriel Resources vs Romania’, this paper documents the intangible losses, the chronic stress, and the damaged dignity of communities having to defend their livelihoods in the long-term ongoing conflicts over mineral resources. We expand the concept of environmental injustice as an ‘insidious’ form of toxicity ‘poisoning’ bodies even before chemical contamination, where the threat of ISDS is one of the many tools used by corporate power to reinforce itself. This paper answers scholarly calls for more empirical studies on the ISDS to expose the politics behind incommensurable valuation conflicts and justice as recognition. We analyse the ISDS case as part and parcel of the hegemonic extractivist logic of colonial power, capitalist accumulation by dispossession, and ontological occupation, which have left deep scars in the collective spaces of people imagining possible alternative futures.

Agrarian disputes remain pervasive and complex, frequently involving violations of land rights, land grabbing, and overlapping claims. Such disputes often span civil, administrative, and even criminal dimensions, resulting in fragmented litigation before the General Courts and the State Administrative Courts. This fragmented adjudication has produced inconsistent and conflicting judicial decisions, thereby undermining legal certainty and justice in the land sector. These conditions underscore the urgency of establishing a specialized agrarian court with a clear institutional and procedural framework. This study aims to formulate a conceptual model of an agrarian court and to propose its future institutional mechanism in order to ensure legal certainty in the resolution of agrarian disputes. From the perspective of Islamic law, land ownership constitutes a protected right (ḥifẓ al-māl) that necessitates an effective and just dispute-resolution mechanism. This research employs a normative legal methodology using statutory, case, comparative, and conceptual approaches, supported by primary, secondary, and non-legal materials. The findings propose the Agrarian Court Concept based on the “3Ps” framework—Position, Procedure, and Professionalism—which emphasizes institutional clarity, specialized procedural rules, and competent adjudicators. This model is designed to prevent future disputes, harmonize judicial decisions, and resolve agrarian conflicts in a manner that promotes legal certainty, justice, and the broader objectives of law, including the principle of enjoining good and preventing harm.

This research explores the effectiveness of consumer legal protection mechanisms in Indonesia, emphasizing the interplay between litigation and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The study focuses on three institutional pathways: the District Court as the formal litigation channel, the Consumer Dispute Settlement Agency (BPSK) as a quasi-judicial body, and the Indonesian National Arbitration Board (BANI) as an ADR institution. By adopting a normative juridical approach complemented by qualitative analysis, this study investigates not only the normative framework of the Consumer Protection Law but also the extent to which consumers can practically access these institutions when seeking justice. Findings indicate that Indonesia has established a relatively comprehensive regulatory foundation for consumer protection. However, significant obstacles persist in practice. These include limited institutional capacity, insufficient socialization of consumer rights, low public trust in non-litigation institutions, and procedural complexities that may discourage consumers from pursuing legal remedies. Moreover, the study finds a gap between the law’s normative promises and its actual enforcement, highlighting disparities in institutional readiness across regions. The research further underscores the importance of enhancing synergy between litigation and ADR mechanisms to provide consumers with more efficient, accessible, and equitable dispute resolution options. Strengthening institutional resources, improving public awareness, and harmonizing procedural standards are identified as critical steps toward bridging the gap between normative provisions and practical realities. Ultimately, this study contributes to the broader discourse on consumer legal protection in Indonesia by offering insights into institutional performance, structural challenges, and potential pathways for reform to ensure more effective consumer rights enforcement.

The 2018 US-China trade war and the escalating 2023 trade war between the two major actors, the US and China, are just two examples of the numerous trade crises the globe is currently experiencing. The trade war has left the entire world in doubt. The GATT/WTO attempts to control these trade conflicts continuously, but without a suitable dispute settlement forum, it is impossible to regulate these arbitrary trade conflicts effectively. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has a dedicated dispute resolution forum. The issue is that the US has been utilising the positive consensus requirement to prevent the appointment of judges to the Appellate Body for the previous few years. The problem is that, although there is an appellate body, no one is present to make a decision. The losing party, therefore, can appeal against the panel’s decision and leave the fate of the dispute uncertain forever. Therefore, WTO members, aware of this crisis, take the greatest unfair advantage of it. The research, therefore, argues that the crisis is there, but there are several alternatives through which it is possible to regulate trade wars. To this purpose, it attempts to argue that there are sufficient incentives which will, in the end, compel the states to cooperate amid the alternative approaches. Dhaka University Law Journal, 2025, 36 (1), 123-148

Arbitration is a commonly adopted method for resolving disputes in construction contracts. The arbitration process and dispute settlement mechanisms are governed by legal provisions, contractual agreements between the parties, and procedures established by international institutions. However, in Nepal’s highway projects, the dispute resolution process has proven to be inefficient, adversely affecting contract management and overall project governance. To address this issue, this research examines existing arbitration practices, claim issues, and decision-making approaches using data and arbitration decisions from highway projects implemented under the Department of Roads. The study analyses 93 ongoing and completed arbitration cases to identify prevailing trends through qualitative and descriptive statistical analysis and investigates five detailed case study projects to explore current practices, issues, contractual and legal grounds for decision-making, and the effectiveness of dispute resolution in highway construction. The case studies are thoroughly reviewed using existing documentation available within the Department of Roads, providing valuable insights for project managers, planners, and contract administrators in identifying key dispute areas and arbitration decision approaches. Furthermore, this research contributes to understanding the trends, issues, and decision patterns in contractual claim resolution. Its findings support improvements in construction contract management by highlighting critical dispute areas that can be mitigated through proactive planning, effective arbitration handling, using standardised forms of contracts and capacity enhancement of stakeholders involved in resolving construction disputes.

Consumer dispute resolution in Indonesia is explicitly regulated under Law Number 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection, which provides space for non-litigation settlement through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The application of ADR, particularly through the Consumer Dispute Settlement Agency (BPSK), reflects the implementation of the principle of fast, simple, and low-cost justice as mandated in Article 2 paragraph (4) of Law Number 48 of 2009 on Judicial Power. This research employs a normative legal method with a statute approach and a conceptual approach. Data were obtained from literature studies covering legislation, legal doctrines, and relevant court decisions. The results of the study indicate that ADR through BPSK serves as an effective mechanism to provide legal certainty, protect consumer rights, and ensure access to justice, particularly for consumers harmed by business actors. However, the effectiveness of ADR still faces several challenges, including limited human resources, low consumer awareness of ADR mechanisms, and the emerging complexity of disputes in the digital trade sector (e-commerce). Therefore, strategies to improve BPSK’s performance are required through regulatory optimization, the use of digital technology in dispute resolution, and capacity building of human resources, so that ADR mechanisms can become more adaptive, responsive, and relevant to the dynamics of consumer protection in Indonesia.

The internet and digital technologies have affected most of our live trend including consumer behavior, especially in the post-covid era. More and more consumers are using e-commerce to fulfil their needs whether goods or services, and hence there is also a rise in the number of disputes. In Malaysia, disputes involving consumers including consumers in e-commerce will be dealt using the traditional platform of judicial institutions or the Consumer Claims Tribunal established under the Protection of Consumers Act 1999, and until this paper is published, Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) has yet to be implemented. This paper provides the preliminary literature study on the need of ODR to be implemented in disputes involving consumers in e-commerce in Malaysia. This study using qualitative method by analyzing secondary data collected from previous studies in journals, articles, websites of other jurisdictions on ODR. Documents and other related studies on consumer protection in Malaysia were also examined. This paper shows that there is a need for Malaysia to implement the ODR to deal with disputes arise on e-commerce transaction for the interests of consumers in Malaysia as well as the e-commerce business itself. The results of this study may provide an input to law and policy makers to establish ODR as the prime means of dispute settlement in e-commerce transaction in Malaysia.

This study examines the legal liability of business actors and the effectiveness of consumer protection against double fraud practices in the distribution of MinyaKita cooking oil, involving both quantity reduction and pricing above the government-mandated Highest Retail Price (HET). The research employs a normative juridical method using statutory and case approaches, supported by limited institutional data from the Ministry of Trade, BPKN, and YLKI for corroborative purposes. The findings indicate that quantity manipulation and overpricing constitute violations of consumer protection law, legal metrology regulations, and trade policies, giving rise to business actors’ liability based on breach of contract, negligence, and semi-strict liability. Nevertheless, consumer protection remains ineffective due to regulatory overlap, weak distribution supervision, limited enforcement authority of the Consumer Dispute Settlement Board (BPSK), and low consumer legal awareness. The novelty of this study lies in its integrated analysis of consumer protection law, legal metrology, and distribution governance in addressing double fraud within a government-regulated commodity program. This study recommends strengthening BPSK’s authority, harmonizing regulatory frameworks, and enhancing distribution oversight and transparency to ensure effective and equitable consumer protection.

Recent years have seen extensive debate on the reform of investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS). The European Commission’s proposal for a Multilateral Investment Court (MIC) seeks to recast ISDS by establishing a permanent two-tier adjudicatory system with an appellate instance, and by enhancing procedural transparency. The initiative aims to address the legitimacy crisis that has confronted conventional ISDS. However, resistance has emerged within the existing international legal order. Frictions have appeared in arbitral practice and treaty architecture. The MIC’s jurisdictional scheme exposes structural tensions between the delegation of sovereign authority and global governance frameworks. This paper employs a methodology that combines normative analysis with targeted case studies. The central claim is that the EU’s supranational model of judicial governance sits uneasily with sovereignty-centred premises of international investment law. Drawing on the CJEU’s judgments in Slowakische Republik v Achmea BV and République de Moldavie v Komstroy LLC, the analysis maps the fault lines between the MIC initiative and existing arbitration mechanisms. The salient issues concern jurisdictional allocation, conflicts of applicable law, and the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards. The paper also shows that the MIC’s attempt to remedy arbitral inconsistency through institutional centralisation engages sensitive sovereignty concerns. Based on recent practice, the paper argues that the MIC is not a mere procedural reform. It constitutes a significant institutional transformation intended to shift international investment arbitration from decentralisation to centralisation. The EU’s institutional vision carries potential for legal and institutional innovation. Its successful implementation, however, depends on complex processes of international coordination and legal integration. To mitigate these tensions, this paper advances the principle of ‘differentiated and adaptive sovereignty’. The principle provides a flexible framework that preserves core sovereign prerogatives while accommodating reform, and that supports a more inclusive and adaptable international investment arbitration regime.

Abstract Trade concerns at World Trade Organization (WTO) Committees and Councils show the WTO’s involvement in addressing digital trade beyond treaty-making and dispute settlement cases. Observations from a database analysing relevant concerns foremost raised at the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) show an increasingly significant occurrence of trade concerns not corresponding to the idea of them being a vehicle for tension-defusing dialogue. Two relevant observations are the prominence among involved WTO members of China, the European Union, and the United States of America, and the contentiousness of raised issues, such as cybersecurity or artificial intelligence. Those observations highlight that concerns voiced about digital trade in technical WTO bodies, such as the TBT Committee, also are vehicles of members’ political commitment and confrontation. The article concludes by putting these findings in the perspective of the contribution that WTO bodies, like the TBT Committee, can make to address digital trade.

The reform of the Indian 2025 GST 2.0, which comes into effect on 22 September is a total redesign of the indirect taxation framework. Some of the major aspects involve the narrowing down of the current structure of multi-rate to a binary of 5% and 18% and a 40% surcharge on luxury and sin items like large cigarettes and premium cars. The long-term objective of the reform is to double the ease of compliance and minimisation of litigation, as well as positive inducement of consumer spending. The analysis challenges the so-called simplification with the empirical history, utilizing an explanatory design that is mixed in nature and incorporates primary policy texts, GST Council meeting minutes, and legal modification orders, survey data on 286 tax practitioners and 359 small- and-middle size enterprises, and longitudinal case studies in the electronics and automotive industries. The analysis shows that the decrease in the rate bands generates evident increase of rate transparency in goods that are widely used in consumption. However, the systemic disturbances continue to exist in terms of assignment of tax treatment, maintenance of transitional credit and continuation of sector specific concessions. The inquiry further enhances the idea that simplification is peripheral, as well as based on the ease of executive interpretation and on the success of rollout, which must be effective and punctual. The research recommends incorporation of systematic instructional investment in tax administration, systemic addition of guard-rails to governance interpretation, operational and dispute settlement, and the realized, recurrent staging of reform in tax-sensitive submarkets, to maintain marginal gains. The practical continuity of the project thus seems to be as evident in the architectural edict as in the examination of performance.