On 23 September 2024, the third ITA Roundtable at an UNCITRAL Working Group III (“UNCITRAL WG III”) session took place at the offices of KNOETZL. Anna Joubin-Bret, Secretary of UNCITRAL, and Jurgita Petkute, Partner at KNOETZL, gave introductory remarks. Dr. Crina Baltag from Stockholm University moderated the discussion of the panel consisting of Lorena Fatás…

The European Commission’s “Proposal for a Council Decision on the partial suspension of the application of the Energy Charter Treaty between the Union and any legal entity that is owned or controlled by citizens or nationals of the Russian Federation or of the Republic of Belarus, and any Investment within the meaning of the Energy…

First appearing in the 1970s, denial of benefits (DoB) clauses have proliferated, became more sophisticated, and evolved significantly and even beyond recognition as in the 2017 Colombian Model BIT. This post discusses such evolution and provides a taxonomy of the different versions of the clause.   Denial of Benefits Clauses in Outline Traditionally, DoB clauses…

Denial of benefits clauses (DoB) have gained considerable traction in the past prolific years of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), and more specifically, with the growing number of Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) arbitrations. UNCTAD’s Investment Policy Hub still lists a considerably small number of international investment agreements (IIAs) providing for DoB: little above 200 which would…