Investment Arbitration

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, BIT, Bolivia, Clean Hands Doctrine, General Principles of International Law, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration

, (Aceris Law)/ /Leave a comment

The arbitral tribunal in Glencore Finance (Bermuda) Limited v. Bolivia has recently hinted at its intent to address an old question: What is the doctrine of “clean hands” in investment arbitration? On 31 January 2018, an arbitral tribunal composed of Professor Ricardo Ramírez Hernández, Professor John Gotanda and Professor Philippe Sands issued a Procedural Order…

Commercial Arbitration, Construction arbitration, Dispute, Goverment Procurement, Investment Arbitration, Prevention, regulation, WTO

(TILPA - INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT LAW)/ /Leave a comment

This is one of the five construction arbitration posts, providing the technical discussion from the SCAI, CAM, TILPA conference in Geneva and Mexico City.  The authors include: Ms Almudena Otero De La Vega (on State enterprises) Ms Tanya Landon & Ms Azal Khan (on evidence), Dr Manuel Arrollo (on multiple procedures), Mr Serge Y. Bodart…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, ICSID, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, Investment Arbitration, Mediation, Negotiation

(Albright StoneBridge Group)/ /Leave a comment

In the world of International Arbitration (“IA”), one distinguishes between commercial arbitration and investment arbitration, the latter widely referred to as Investor-State Dispute Settlement or ISDS, as a dispute resolution mechanism based on bilateral treaties, multilateral treaties, and free trade agreements. IA is lauded as the best method for dispute resolution in international trade. This…

India, Injunction, Investment Arbitration

(Wadia Ghandy & Co)/ /2 Comments

A plethora of business transactions today have evolved into complex structures of multi-faceted sub-transactions. Multiple parties enter into several distinct, yet interconnected and interdependent agreements towards achieving a common commercial goal. Every so often, however, one or more of these interconnected agreements will lack an arbitration agreement; whereas the others will contain similar/related arbitration clauses….

Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investment protection, Investment Treaties, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

(Savoie Arbitration) and (Fordham School of Law)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

Recent events such as the NAFTA re-negotiations have drawn leading newspapers around the world to turn their attention to ISDS tribunals. Often in an effort to make their stories sensational, they speak of “obscure tribunals,” “secret trade court,” and “justice behind closed doors,” most of the time giving it an unfair and biased image. In…

Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, ISDS, Mexico, NAFTA

(Cooley LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

Mexico held its general elections (including presidential election) on July 1st. The Government of the country has shifted from a center-right president, Enrique Peña Nieto from the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party), to the favorite candidate for the recent elections, the left-wing politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador (“AMLO”). AMLO, a member of the Movimiento…

ICSID Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Security for Costs, Third party funding

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Introduction Security for costs is a controversial territory in international arbitration, especially in investment arbitration. On one side is the respondent State which seeks security for defending a claim with the taxpayers’ resources. However, on the other side, there is the claimant who might become financially incapable of accessing justice if it is asked to…

Domestic Courts, Investment Arbitration, Review of Domestic Court Decisions, State entity, State Responsibility

(Meitar Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

State Responsibility for State Organ’s Conduct The fact that a state can be held liable for its organs’ conduct is part of a wider notion that sees states as responsible for their internationally wrongful acts. This notion was codified in the ILC Articles of State Responsibility. Article 1 states that “every internationally wrongful act of…

Environment, Human Rights, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investment protection, Investment Treaties, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

(Stockholm University)/ /Leave a comment

Based on the panel discussion moderated at the 30th Annual ITA Workshop and Annual Meeting, with panelists Lorraine de Germiny, Robert Landicho, and Laura Sinisterra.1) This post is a summary of the first panel discussion of the Young ITA Roundtable, 30th Annual ITA Workshop and Annual Meeting: Multiple Proceedings, Multiple Parties, and International Arbitration: What…

Achmea, Arbitration, CJEU, Diversity, Investment Arbitration

(Hanotiau & van den Berg Brussels)/ /Leave a comment

Also reporting: Chuba Nwokedi (Association for International Arbitration), Mateusz Rys (University of Antwerp), Maryam Salehijam (Ghent University), Anmol Sheth (Association for International Arbitration), Arthur Van Den Bossche (University of Antwerp), Antonia Zydek (University of Strathclyde) It has long been said that investment treaty arbitration is at crossroads. This is probably most true within the European…

Achmea, Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, BIT, CJEU, European Commission, European Law, European Union, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration

(NL-Investmentconsulting)/ /Leave a comment

The first half of the year has been a rollercoaster when it comes to BITs and ISDS, in particular in Europe. Several developments at various levels can be distinguished with one common denominator: for better or for worse, the European Union (EU) and EU law have become one of the key drivers in shaping international…

Damages, ICSID, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment Treaties, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

(University of Vienna)/ /Leave a comment

On 26 May 2018, the Ninth Investment Arbitration Forum took place at the Juridicum of the University of Vienna jointly organized by Prof. Irmgard Marboe of the University of Vienna, Adriana San Román and Herfried Wöss of Wöss & Partners and ICC Austria. The topic of this year’s forum was “Valuation of Damages in Changing…

Fair and Equitable Treatment, Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property Rights, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investment protection, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

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In the first part of this article, we discussed the problems of balancing an investor’s intellectual property rights with the sovereign right of a State. Now, we look at how Philip Morris v Uruguay has added to the debate. In 2010 Philip Morris challenged two measures adopted by the government of Uruguay: (1) a “single…

Fair and Equitable Treatment, Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property Rights, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investment protection, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

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The constructive framework of ISDS was intended to promote investment and growth through the establishment of a stable and predictable atmosphere for investment. However, some have argued that this purpose has been warped to allow a small group of private individuals to rule on public matters. Arbitrations such as CMS v Argentina, Tecmed v Mexico,…

Applicable Law, Customary international law, ICSID, ICSID Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

(Three Crowns LLP) and / /1 Comment
Three Crowns LLP

Without the rights and protections of a treaty, a foreign investor who suffers a wrongful act at the hands of a host State traditionally has no legal standing to pursue an international claim against that State.1) Case Concerning the Barcelona Traction, Light & Power Company Limited (Belgium v Spain) (Second Phase) [1970] ICJ Rep 3,…

Achmea, BIT, ECJ, Europe, European Law, European Union, Intra-EU BITs, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Uncategorized

(Vavrovsky Heine Marth)/ /2 Comments

Over the past two months, the judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in Slovak Republic v Achmea BV, hereinafter referred to as “Achmea”, has created much discussion among arbitration practitioners. Its reasoning and implications have already been addressed in several Kluwer Arbitration blog posts, available here, here and here. The…

Investment Arbitration, Investment Treaties, IT, Social networks

(Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH)/ /Leave a comment

The explosive development of IT companies offering social platforms (social networking and instant messaging applications) over the past years has gifted us with many tools that we now use on a daily basis. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, What’s App, Skype, Telegram and many others services help us to stay in touch with people all around the…

Africa, Arbitration, ICSID Convention, Investment Arbitration, Investment Treaties, Investor-State arbitration

(Afe Babalola & Co.)/ /1 Comment

International arbitration claims are oftentimes bedevilled with the contention that the claimant invoked the option to arbitrate much too early. Sometimes, this contention is no more than a lawyers’ artifice utilised to delay advancing arbitral proceedings. Yet, quite commonly, this contention is true in some cases. In my experience, I have identified a number of…

Decision Making, Investment Arbitration, Investor-State arbitration, Treaty Shopping

(General Editor International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management; Queen Mary University of London), (Queen Mary University of London), and (Three Crowns)/ /3 Comments

Consistent decision-making has been an ongoing concern in the way arbitrators approach the issue of treaty shopping and indirect expropriation. The article of Ozlem Susler and Therese Wilson, “Restoring Balance in Investor State Dispute Settlement: Addressing Treaty Shopping and Indirect Expropriation Claims and Consistent Approaches to Decision-Making” ,1)Published in CIArb’s Academic Journal: International Journal of…

Hearings, Investment Arbitration, Supreme Court, Transparency, Transparency in investment arbitrations

(Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

[I]t is not merely of some importance but is of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.1) R v Sussex Justices, ex parte McCarthy [1924] 1 KB 256, 259 (Lord Hewart C.J.) If you sought to distil [the connection between ISDS’s transparency and…

Achmea, Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, BIT, Enforcement, European Law, European Union, International arbitration, Intra-EU BITs, Investment Arbitration, New York Convention

(Albright StoneBridge Group)/ /Leave a comment

The world after the  Achmea v Slovakia decision focuses on the question about the future of ISDS in relation to intra-EU BITs. At the ASIL conference on the 6 April 2018, a representative of the EU observed the decision in the Achmea case as one that was perhaps a natural consequence of the intricacies of…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, CEE, Enforcement, Investment Arbitration

(Addleshaw Goddard LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Jeantet

In the midst of the second edition of the Paris Arbitration Week, Jeantet hosted, on Thursday 12 April 2018, a roundtable on the topic “Arbitrating with States in CEE & CIS”. The speakers of the roundtable were: Cosmin Vasile (Zamfirescu Racoti & Partners), Yas Banifatemi (Shearman & Sterling), Davor Babić (University of Zagreb), Yasmin Mohammad…

Arbitration, BIT, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Insurance, Investment Arbitration

(University of Strathclyde)/ /Leave a comment

After three high-value infrastructure and energy projects cases at ICSID and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Bosnia and Herzegovina (“BiH”) is now facing a new US$40 million investment treaty claim. This time it involves the privatization of an insurance company – Krajina osiguranje a.d. Banja Luka, based in the Republic of Srpska (one of the…

Austria, BIT, Canada, CETA, China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, China-Korea Free Trade Agreement, Corporate Social Responsibility, India, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS, Norway, TPP

(Herbert Smith Freehills China International Business and Economic Law (CIBEL) Centre of UNSW Law)/ /1 Comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

In the context of the backlash against investor-state dispute settlement (“ISDS”), one of the main criticisms is the asymmetric nature of investment treaties, which impose numerous obligations on the States, but do not seem to hold corporations accountable for the social, environmental and economic consequences of their activities. Some recent developments reflect a redirection away…