Cheng Jia Hui

International trade regulations are often perceived with the labels of security and stability. World Trade Organization (WTO) being the main organization in this globe to regulate and facilitate affairs of international trade has established a stable system for its member states to deal with trades being done between them. Malaysia and China are both member states of the WTO, and these two countries had a long history of trade relationship to date, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) would signify as the latest proof of the business relationship between China and Malaysia Through years of progress, Malaysia has become an important partner of China in Belt and Road cooperation and has achieved fruitful results in economic and trade cooperation. Even though the BRI is still rapidly developing till today, looking at this initiative on the legal side, actually there is no law ever enacted in line to handle legal issues born from the initiative specifically, which there are two reasons contributing to such matter generally, namely BRI’s lack of basis in public international law and the difference in legal systems of BRI participating countries. As such, this doctrinal study will use a qualitative method to look into the legal issues of BRI through three aspects, namely: (i) institutional issues; (ii) dispute resolution; and (iii) criminal issues, beside discussing the impact of BRI towards Malaysia from an economic perspective.

Natural law-based self-defense draws its moral force given that it is used in the presence of an immediate threat, giving the defender government no time for deliberation and placing them in a dreadful situation where they must choose between using force in self-defense or losing their lives. The self-defense right is an essential human right that has existed and been recognised throughout history. It is accessible to both individuals and, as states formed, to states as sovereign entities. Self-defense confines rather than widens the area for public officials' discretion, unlike other criminal justice systems that fulfil important political purposes. It rejects public interest and public justification in favour of private ones. The problem to be investigated in this article is the right of self-defense can still be imposed by the state at the same time preserving the natural law in the country.  This article will analyse the view of the right to self-defense and jurisprudential analysis of the right to self-defense. The study is qualitative doctrinal research that derives its data from library-based sources. The article suggests that the state has the power to suspend our right to self-defense but certainly not extinguish it. A state may take away this natural law because of the welfare and safety of society. However, when facing immediate threat, natural law will be preserved as the State can't guarantee our safety is imminent