Special economic and internationalised jurisdictions : the cases of the International Zone of Tangier, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region & the Qatar Financial Centre
(2025)
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- Abstract
- This doctoral thesis is a study of certain ‘places in between’ our common understanding of national and international law. More specifically, this is a study of certain special jurisdictions, i.e. semi-autonomous carve-outs from a hosting jurisdiction, that have a strong internationalised element in both their institutions and structure and that play an important economic role for that hosting jurisdiction. The idea of a special ‘zone’ or jurisdiction for foreign investors and merchants is not new: it has existed throughout history, and such jurisdictions continue to be established until today. However, such places are rarely compared in-depth, as their foundational basis is either in national or international law. Even so, they can and should be compared to each other, as they all have similar characteristics and perform the same function: they are special economic and internationalised jurisdictions ("SEIJs"). This work focuses on and compares three such examples from recent history and the present time: the International Zone of Tangier (1923/24-1956/60), the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (1997 - …) and the Qatar Financial Centre (2005 - …). This work finds many interesting and unexpected links and connections between these three case studies and beyond, such as the early European Union, leading to the confirmation of the concept. SEIJs are important places of cultural-, legal- and economic exchange, leading to an influence and impact far outside the boundaries of their limited territory.
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Citations
Theus, W. (2025). Special economic and internationalised jurisdictions : the cases of the International Zone of Tangier, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region & the Qatar Financial Centre. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/240704