If we think about global migration law, refugee law is the place to start, since this seems to be the area in which the institutions, the norms, the system are the clearest example of a global migration law. Unlike most other migrants, refugees have their own convention and their own agency—the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) dating from 1950—and a set of regional agreements on refugees, and that has produced a solid foundation of rights, seventy years of practice, and billions of dollars a year in assistance, as well as coordinated international action on resettlement and return. I think it is fair to call it a legal regime on refugees.

The rule of law and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are mutually supportive. Respect for the rule of law is indeed crucial for development issues. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development itself acknowledges, through SDG 16, that access to justice and the rule of law foster sustainable development. The latter ensures that all individuals are treated alike, that they are entitled to the respect of human rights and that the rule of law informs the satisfaction of social, economic, and cultural needs as well as the development of public policies and the governance of competent institutions.

The classical approach to investment protection is that states have obligations and investors have rights. However, there are emerging trends in favor of a rebalancing of rights and obligations of states and investors. In the context of this recalibrated approach, more attention is given to the definition of substantive provisions, such as the fair and equitable treatment standard. There is also a move from investor protection to investor responsibilization. This emerging responsibilization trend can be observed, for example, in recent treaties negotiated on the African continent, and it is also making a foray into customary international law.