Aims and Scopes

Aims

The journal aims to advance original legal scholarship on business, investment and economic transformation; explain the interaction of domestic, regional and international legal regimes; and evaluate the design, implementation and consequences of regulation and contracts.

It seeks to strengthen comparative dialogue across the Global South and between different legal traditions; connect scholarship with the practical challenges faced by public institutions, enterprises and communities; and support transparent, accountable and sustainable approaches to economic development.

LEXANTARA does not prescribe a preferred policy outcome. It welcomes competing arguments on market regulation, state intervention, investment protection and development, provided that the analysis is rigorous, independent and supported by appropriate authority and evidence.

Scope

Investment and industrial policy

This area covers foreign and domestic investment regulation; investment treaties and facilitation; investment screening and economic security; industrial policy, subsidies and local content; downstream processing and critical minerals; technology transfer; competition; and the interaction of trade, investment and environmental obligations.

Illustrative questions include how industrial policies can preserve legal predictability while promoting domestic capabilities, how screening decisions should be reviewed, and how mineral value chain regulation affects investors and smaller suppliers.

Contracts and business governance

This area covers investment contracts, joint ventures, concessions, public–private partnerships, commercial transactions, corporate governance and directors’ duties, state-owned enterprises, sovereign investment institutions, beneficial ownership, business integrity, insolvency and restructuring, and corporate responsibility in supply chains.

The journal particularly welcomes analysis of change in law and stabilisation clauses, allocation of regulatory risk, renegotiation, technology transfer commitments, transparency and enforceable community benefit arrangements.

Investment in economic transitions

This area covers energy transition and decarbonisation; digital infrastructure, AI and data centres; electricity, water and land allocation for investment; sustainable and transition finance; carbon markets; circular economy; and the legal governance of infrastructure and emerging technologies.

Submissions should connect these subjects to business or investment law. Technology or environmental research without a substantial legal contribution falls outside scope.

Dispute prevention and resolution

This area covers commercial and investor–State arbitration, mediation, negotiation, dispute avoidance, investor grievance mechanisms, domestic administrative and judicial review, recognition and enforcement, access to remedies, and institutional coordination in investment disputes.

The journal welcomes research on settlement authority, public accountability, procedural fairness, evidence, remedies, dispute financing and the implementation of mediated or adjudicated outcomes.

Topics

LEXANTARA welcomes original scholarship on the following topics. The list is illustrative rather than exhaustive. All submissions must make a substantive contribution to business or investment law.

Investment and industrial policy

Investment protection and regulatory autonomy: investment treaties, investor obligations, fair and equitable treatment, expropriation, and the state’s right to regulate.
Investment facilitation and licensing: administrative simplification, regulatory transparency, investment incentives, and judicial review of licensing decisions.
Industrial policy and economic development: subsidies, local-content requirements, technology transfer, domestic processing requirements, and their interaction with trade and investment obligations.
Critical minerals and strategic resources: mineral processing, resource governance, export restrictions, supply-chain diversification, and benefit-sharing.
Investment screening and economic security: national-security review, foreign ownership restrictions, strategic industries, and procedural safeguards.
Competition and market regulation: merger control, market concentration, state support, and competitive neutrality.
Regional and South–South investment relations: ASEAN investment frameworks, regional economic agreements, and comparative investment governance.

Contracts and business governance

Investment and infrastructure contracts: concessions, joint ventures, public–private partnerships, construction contracts, and project development agreements.
Contractual allocation of risk: stabilisation clauses, changes in law, force majeure, hardship, renegotiation, and termination.
Corporate governance and accountability: directors’ duties, shareholder rights, minority protection, disclosure, and beneficial ownership.
State-owned enterprises and sovereign investment: governance, public mandates, commercial responsibilities, and accountability of sovereign wealth funds.
Responsible business conduct: human rights due diligence, labour protection, environmental responsibilities, and supply-chain obligations.
Cross-border business transactions: mergers and acquisitions, commercial agency, distribution, applicable law, and jurisdiction.
Financial distress and restructuring: corporate insolvency, creditor protection, cross-border insolvency, and restructuring of investment projects.
Business integrity: anti-corruption, compliance systems, public procurement, and legal consequences of corporate misconduct.

Investment in economic transitions

Energy transition and investment: renewable energy, electricity markets, energy storage, power purchase agreements, and fossil-fuel asset retirement.
Digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence: data centres, cloud infrastructure, AI-related commercial obligations, and the allocation of electricity, water, and land.
Sustainable and transition finance: green bonds, sustainability-linked financing, disclosure obligations, greenwashing, and lender responsibilities.
Carbon markets: legal ownership of carbon credits, trading arrangements, verification, contractual liability, and benefit-sharing.
Circular economy and industrial transformation: recycling, battery value chains, extended producer responsibility, and investment in resource efficiency.
Land and community rights: land acquisition, consultation, Indigenous and customary rights, compensation, and community-development agreements.
Innovation and technology transfer: intellectual property licensing, research partnerships, investment conditions, and access to technology.

Dispute prevention and resolution

Investor–State dispute settlement: jurisdiction, admissibility, substantive standards, remedies, and institutional reform.
International commercial arbitration: arbitration agreements, applicable law, evidence, interim measures, and recognition and enforcement.
Investment and commercial mediation: settlement design, public-sector settlement authority, confidentiality, and implementation.
Dispute prevention: investor grievance mechanisms, investment ombuds institutions, early-warning systems, and intergovernmental coordination.
Domestic courts and administrative remedies: investment-related litigation, regulatory challenges, contractual disputes, and access to justice.
Disputes arising from economic transitions: renewable-energy projects, critical minerals, carbon markets, digital infrastructure, and stranded assets.
Procedural integrity and accountability: arbitrator independence, conflicts of interest, third-party funding, transparency, costs, and participation of affected communities.

Cross-cutting perspectives

Across these topics, the journal particularly welcomes:

Comparative research across jurisdictions and legal traditions.
Scholarship grounded in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and the wider Global South.
Empirical analysis of contracts, decisions, regulatory practice, and institutional performance.
Research connecting legal certainty with sustainability, accountability, and distributive justice.
Interdisciplinary contributions that use economics, political science, international relations, or sociology to answer a clearly defined legal question.

Articles addressing technology, management, public policy, or social issues should demonstrate a direct connection to business or investment law. Single-country studies are welcome when they explain their contribution to broader scholarly debates.

Editorial boundaries and contribution standard

Law is the journal’s primary discipline. Every submission must make a substantive legal contribution concerning business or investment. Economic, political, social and managerial perspectives are welcome when they advance a clearly identified legal question. General criminal law, family law, education, political commentary and management studies are outside scope unless their connection to the journal’s legal focus is substantial and expressly demonstrated.

Articles must identify a research question, engage relevant scholarship and primary legal materials, explain their method, and make an original contribution. A domestic case study does not require a second country, but must explain its wider analytical relevance. Comparative research must justify jurisdiction selection and account for institutional differences.

Descriptive summaries of legislation, unsupported assertions of novelty, promotional writing, consultancy advertising and papers offering only generic recommendations will not normally proceed to external review.

Policy version: founding draft 2.2 (2 November 2026), pending formal adoption.