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It has been acknowledged that the institution of UN special rapporteurs for human rights known as the special procedures have played an important role over a long period of time in promoting and protecting human rights in some of the most difficult circumstances and on some of the most challenging issues. They have done so through not only monitoring and fact finding but also standard-setting over the past three or so decades. They have been credited for influencing significantly the elaboration, interpretation and implementation of international human law and brought the human rights work of the UN to the ordinary men and women around the globe. However, the institution of special rapporteurs itself seems to be coming under pressure not only from outside but also from inside the UN system. Currently, there is a debate taking place on the role of the special rapporteurs in the context of the review process of the Human Rights Council itself by the UN General Assembly since most of the special rapporteurs are appointed by the council to assist it in achieving the objectives set out in the General Assembly resolution of 2006 that created the council to replace the former Commission on Human Rights. Given the nature of the debate that has taken place within the council in the recent past, there are fears that some states or groupings of states may try to abolish the country special rapporteurs and undermine the significance of certain special rapporteurs especially those holding mandates relating to certain core civil and political rights by imposing additional restrictions on their freedom of action.The importance of the special rapporteur system appears evident, yet there is no consensus on good or best practice in the way that mandates should be carried out or the extent or limits of the responsibilities of governments to assist special rapporteurs. Moreover, there is limited systematic scholarly examination of the nature and impact of the role of the special rapporteur in international law. It is then timely to examine the role of the special rapporteurs in the development and promotion of international human rights norms and this is what the articles included in this special issue seek to do. It is in this context that the Centre for International Governance at the School of Law of the University of Leeds decided to organise an international research workshop designed to examine closely the role of special rapporteurs in the development and promotion of international human rights norms. The idea was to understand the role and challenges that the special rapporteurs

With growth in foreign investment and in the number of companies investing in foreign countries, the application of general principles of public international law has not been deemed adequate to regulate foreign investment and there is, as yet, no comprehensive international treaty on the regulation of foreign investment. Consequently, states have resorted to bilateral investment treaties (BITs), regional trade and international investment agreements (IIAs) and free trade agreements to supplement and complement the regime of protection for foreign investors. In the absence of an international investment court, states hosting foreign investment or investor states have opted for investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS). This mechanism has brought about its own challenges to the international law of foreign investment due to inconsistency in the application and interpretation of the key principles of international investment law by such arbitration tribunals, and further, there is no appellate mechanism to bring about some cohesion and consistency in jurisprudence. Therefore, there are various proposals mooted by scholars to address these challenges and they range from tweaks to BITs and IIAs, the creation of an appellate mechanism and the negotiation of a multilateral treaty to proposals for reform of ISDS only. After assessing the merits and demerits of such proposals, this study goes further, arguing for the creation of a World Investment Organisation with a standing mechanism for settlement of investment disputes in order to ensure legal certainty, predictability and the promotion of the flow of foreign investment in a sustainable and responsible manner.

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There is an apprehension in the democratic world about the possible impact of the economic rise of China on the UN human rights agenda. Although Communist China has embraced capitalism by liberalising its economy, by joining the WTO and by recognising private entrepreneurship and the right to private property, it has not been an enthusiastic partner when it comes to promoting and protecting human rights. China has supported the idea of the so-called 'Asian values' or cultural and political relativism as well as promoting the idea of a 'China Model of Democracy' which seeks to support economic growth at the expense of civil and political rights. This article examines China's approach to human rights both within and outside of the UN and whether China's rise as a major economic power poses a threat or offers an opportunity to the international human rights system led by the UN. In doing so, it considers how China is changing in terms of its approach to the rule of law, democracy and human rights and why it needs to become a willing and enthusiastic player within the UN system to promote and protect human rights.