Future of Dispute Resolution and Investment in BRICS

Abstract

The BRICS is a term which refers to the group of Five Nations – namely, Brazil, Russia, India China and South Africa. They are touted to be emerging economies and hold an annual BRICS summit to commemorate their partnership and further their growth. One of the crucial components for their growth is investment within the BRICS Nations. This is aimed at the promotion of an equitable international economic order and expediting the growth of the BRICS nations. The dispute settlement mechanism is the key to establishing a stable and progressive investment regime. The countries of BRICS are culturally different and have different legal systems. This also leads to a varied regime of investment protection. In the 2014 annual summit, the Ministries of External Relations of the BRICS nations agreed to build a common approach to improve the investment agreement and improve their dispute settlement mechanism. The paper analyses the existing investment regime, legal systems of the BRICS nations and provides suggestions as to how the dispute settlement mechanism can further be amended and applied for encouraging investment and promoting economic growth.