Extended Jurisdiction through Foreign Policy, Soft Law, and Self-Regulation

Abstract

This chapter focuses on whether states can use extended forms of extraterritorial jurisdiction to protect animals abroad, including foreign policy rules, investment agreements, jurisdiction assigned to international bodies, and self-regulation by private actors. These subtler forms of extraterritorial regulation are fully established and widely used in human rights law. When applied to animal law, they yield substantial benefits for states that want to protect animals abroad by reaching beyond traditional command-and-control structures and tapping the expertise of non-state actors. The focus of this chapter is on investment rules, export credit standards, bilateral investment treaties, bilateral free trade agreements, impact assessments, reporting, corporate social responsibility, codes of conduct, and the Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).