Domestic Legal Implications of Chinese-Funded Infrastructure Projects in Sri Lanka: An Analysis

Event Description

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), officially launched by China in 2013, manifests its vision to create an integrated Asian region, connecting China to Africa, Europe and beyond. However, BRI does not premise on a common legal framework. And thus, BRI investors must navigate different legal systems, such as the Common Law, Civil Law, and Islamic Law applicable in countries participating in the Initiative. At the same time, BRI investments have caused considerable legal implications in the countries that host them, from circumventing applicable laws facilitating BRI investments to enacting new laws to screen them. Such legal implications vary across participating countries and the region to which they belong. They have also given rise to a diverse range of policy implications and security concerns at both domestic and regional levels. Against this backdrop, this research paper has developed a taxonomy to analyze the legal implications of BRI investments, taking Sri Lanka as a case study – perhaps the most controversial BRI participant.

This lecture will be given by Dr. Dilini Pathirana, the 2024-2025 Allard Law Global South Visiting Scholar-in-Residence.

Speaker

Dilini Pathirana holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree and a Master of Laws Degree from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Since 2009, she has been a faculty member at the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, where she teaches International Investment Law at the undergraduate level and International Economic Law at the postgraduate level. In 2019, she obtained a PhD in International Law from the China University of Political Science and Law. Her doctoral studies focused on Chinese investments in Sri Lanka, unpacking their legal and policy issues, as well as geopolitical concerns. Dilini serves as an affiliated expert of the Asia Pacific FDI Network and was contributing editor of the Afronomicslaw, a blog that focuses on international economic law and public international law themes as they relate to the Global South at large. In addition, she is a founding committee member of South Asia International Economic Law Network (SAIELN). Since October 2021, Dilini has served as the Director of the Legal Research Unit of the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo.