2 - State-Owned Entities as a Sui Generis ‘Participant’ in International Law

Summary

Commencing with a brief introduction to the concept of legal personality in international law and the long-standing and remaining challenges associated with the recognition of corporations as subjects of international law, chapter two looks at SOEs through the lens of the concept of legal personality in international law and argues that SOEs are a sui generis type of 'participant' in international law. The following distinguishing characteristics make SOEs a sui generis participant in international law: their belonging to the public domain, their role and rationale for existence and the creation of separate regulatory regimes to address some of the challenges associated with State corporate ownership at domestic, regional and international level. By delving deeper into the close connection between the State and its SOEs, the chapter argues that from the perspective of the SOE, the widely accepted responsibility to respect human rights is elevated to the level of a duty in the case of SOEs. Overall, the chapter demonstrated the increased heterogeneity and complexity of the notion of participation on the international plane.