Investment Arbitration

BIT, European Commission, European Law, European Union, ICSID Convention, Intra-EU BITs, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Poland, Sweden

(Stockholm University)/ /1 Comment

On 8 March 2017, the Romanian Parliament sent to the Romanian President for promulgation the Law allowing for the termination of the Bilateral Investment Treaties between Romania and other Member States of the European Union (“Intra-EU BITs”). This comes after Poland adopted a similar measure at the beginning of January 2017 and with the European…

BIT, Counterclaims, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, Investment Arbitration

(Arbitration Center at the Institute of Modern Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

The beginning of 2017 has already been remarkable to contribute to discussions regarding counterclaims in investment arbitration: two recently finalized cases against Latin America states (Urbaser et al. v The Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No ARB/07/26 ; Burlington Resources Inc. v Republic of Ecuador, ICSID Case No. ARB/08/5) provide several noteworthy points for further debates…

BIT, Brexit, Investment Arbitration, Poland, Sunset clauses

(Hogan Lovells)/ /1 Comment

A year ago, on 25 February 2016, it was reported that Poland intends to terminate its Bilateral Investment Treaties (“BITs”; see initial comments here). Earlier this year, by a resolution of 5 January 2017, an interministerial Working Group on Polish investment policy was officially established to, among other things, review and analyse existing BITs (as…

Appeal, Arbitral Award, Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrator Intelligence, Arbitrators, Diversity, Financial Industry, Investment Arbitration, Third party funding, Transparency

(Corrs Chambers Westgarth)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

2016 was an important year for international arbitration. Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales challenged the legitimacy of international arbitration, while supporters such as former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia (Robert French AC) came forward to defend its coexistence with commercial courts. Several institutions such as ACICA, SIAC and KCAB updated…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, SIAC, Singapore, Singapore International Arbitration Centre

(Corrs Chambers Westgarth)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

On 30 December 2016, The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) finally released the first edition of its Investment Arbitration Rules (IA Rules). The IA Rules were first published as draft rules on 1 February 2016, and were discussed in a previous article. The IA Rules, which came into effect on 1 January 2017, now reflect…

Anti-ISDS Propaganda, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, BIT, Investment Arbitration, ISDS, Poland

(Kancelaria Adwokacka Adwokat Marcin Orecki)/ /Leave a comment

Much ink has recently been spilt on the Investor State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”) system, especially in the light of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (“CETA”), and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (“TTIP”) (summary of criticism recently collected by G. Kaufmann-Kohler, M. Potesta, at 10, available here). The existence of a potential overlap and…

Arbitration, Corruption, Criminal law and arbitration, Croatia, Domestic Courts, Investment Arbitration

(OMNIA STRATEGY LLP, London)/ /Leave a comment

  Arbitral tribunals are increasingly faced with allegations of corruption. In these situations, arbitral proceedings and criminal investigations frequently go in tandem. Their findings overlap and may influence one another. Regardless of the many instances where corruption is alleged, there have been only a few investment cases in which a finding of corruption was actually…

BIT, Compensation for Moral Damages, International Law, Investment Arbitration

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YIAG

Lundin Tunisia B. V. v. Republic of Tunisia is a case that very little information was (and, in many ways, still is) available about until very recently. In November 2016, excerpts from the award (in French), itself dated December 22, 2015, became available on the ICSID website. The published excerpts give very limited information on…

Arbitral Award, Arbitration, ICSID Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Res Judicata

(International Moot Court Competition Association (IMCCA))/ /Leave a comment

Co-authored with Ivaylo Dimitrov, George Washington University Law School Foreword A recent award rendered in the case of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited v. Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) (ARB/10/20, Award, 12 September 2016) (hereinafter: “SCB HK v. TANESCO”) seems to put an end to a dispute which had sparked lately relating to an arbitral…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Energy Charter Treaty, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor

(University of Aberdeen)/ /Leave a comment

Bosnia and Herzegovina (“BiH”) is generally perceived as a good emerging market for investment. The country is rich with natural resources and has a long tradition of industry with favorable and attractive locations and resources. Potential areas of investment include banking and finance, energy and mining, construction and IT (ICT) sector. The relevant national framework…

Arbitration, Germany, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Legitimate Expectations

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Criticism of the Investor State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”) system is common these days. Protesters demonstrate against “secretive tribunals of highly paid corporate lawyers” as which the mainstream media increasingly portray arbitral tribunals. (“Investor-state dispute settlement – the arbitration game”, The Economist, 11 October 2014) A Controversial Doctrine Central to the general public’s opposition to ISDS…

Arbitration, Australia, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor

, / /1 Comment

On 30 November, Australia’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) released its Report 165 on its inquiry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). JSCOT is a 16-member parliamentary committee tasked with advising the Australian parliament on ratification of treaties. This article presents an overview and discussion of the Report’s findings on ISDS, the most common…

Energy, Investment Arbitration

(20 Essex Street)/ /5 Comments

The Paris Agreement does not include an enforcement mechanism.   However, trends show that different actors have been innovative in using different legal mechanisms to address environmental and climate change issues. As noted by the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce in this respect, “[g]reen investors have resorted to international arbitration to resolve disputes related to, among others,…

Arbitration, Energy Charter Treaty, Expropriation, Germany, Investment Arbitration, Legitimate Expectations

(NL-Investmentconsulting)/ /8 Comments

On 6 December 2016 the German Constitutional Court (GCC) delivered its judgment in the case of Vattenfall and other nuclear power energy companies against Germany. This dispute and final judgment – which have attracted far less attention and criticism from anti-ISDS groups than the Vattenfall dispute currently under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) – provide…

Brazil, BRICS, Fair and Equitable Treatment, India, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Model BIT, The Netherlands

(Lazareff Le Bars)/ /Leave a comment
ArbitralWomen

Much Ado About India’s Protectionist Model BIT The last week of November 2016 was an eventful and rather paradoxical week for India. While India and Brazil successfully concluded negotiations for a new Bilateral Investment Treaty (“BIT”), the India-Netherlands BIT expired. India has spent the past year refurbishing its investment agreements. According to UNCTAD, India is…

Brexit, Fair and Equitable Treatment, Investment Arbitration

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /2 Comments

Last month I was privileged to organize a conference at the University of Notre Dame’s London Global Gateway on the topic of UK trade and Brexit. The conference had three sessions: (1) UK trade negotiations with the EU; (2) UK trade negotiations outside the EU; and (3) UK’s post-Brexit status within the WTO. You can…

Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Best practices, Commercial Arbitration, Confidentiality, Confidentiality and Transparency, HKIAC, ICC Arbitration, ICCA, ICSID Arbitration, Independence and Impartiality, Institutional Arbitration, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, ISDS, LCIA Arbitration, Powers of the tribunal, Procedure, SCC Rules, Secretary of the Arbitral Tribunal, SIAC, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, Tribunal Secretary, Uncategorized

, , (Clifford Chance) and (Clifford Chance Asia)/ /Leave a comment

“Help! I need somebody Help! Not just anybody Help! You know I need someone, help … And now my life has changed in oh so many ways, My independence seems to vanish in the haze …” Help raises a question of need, but does it lead to a loss of the fundamental decision-making power vested…

Appellate Body, BIT, Free Trade Agreements, Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, ISDS, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, TPP

(Peking University School of Transnational Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

Investment obligations and investor-State arbitration provisions normally have been negotiated under bilateral investment treaties (BITs), or, more recently, in the larger context of free trade agreements (FTAs). For investment provisions, the movement from BITs to FTAs recently has taken an additional, significant step: the negotiation of such provisions in the even larger context of mega-regional…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Investment Arbitration, Investor, Montenegro

(International Moot Court Competition Association (IMCCA))/ /Leave a comment

Co-authored with: Oleg Temnikov, Wolf Theiss Background In a recent award issued in the case of CEAC Holdings Limited v. Montenegro (ARB/14/8, Award, 26 July 2016) the arbitral tribunal had to decide whether CEAC Holdings Limited (hereinafter: “CEAC”) was a protected investor within the meaning of the applicable Cyprus–Serbia and Montenegro BIT. Under Article 1…

BIT, China, Customary international law, Expropriation, Fair and Equitable Treatment, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investor, Laos, Macau, Singapore, Singapore Court of Appeal, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

, , (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /1 Comment
WilmerHale

Part I of this two-part blog post summarized the recent judgment of the Singapore Court of Appeal (“SGCA” or the “Court”) in Sanum Investments Ltd. v Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (“Sanum v Laos”). This Part II provides some comments on that judgment and its significance, including its impact on future Singapore court…

BIT, China, Customary international law, Expropriation, Fair and Equitable Treatment, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investor, Laos, Macau, Singapore, Taxation, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

, , (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /Leave a comment
WilmerHale

On 29 September 2016, the Singapore Court of Appeal (“SGCA” or the “Court”) released its much-anticipated judgment in Sanum Investments Ltd. v Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (“Sanum v Laos”). In a carefully reasoned decision, Singapore’s apex court reversed a decision of the Singapore High Court, which had previously held that an UNCITRAL…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, IBA Guidelines on Party Representation, Investment Arbitration, Secretary of the Arbitral Tribunal, The Pledge, Third party funding

(Bocconi University)/ /3 Comments
Arbitrator Intelligence

If James Bond practiced law, it would be international arbitration. Don’t believe me? Just consider how many international arbitration cases could be great plots for a James Bond movie. Take, for example, the case in which an Israeli investor was arrested in Tbilisi and jailed following a cognac-laced sting operation that caught the investor on…

Arbitration, foreign direct investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership

(University of Sydney & Williams Trade Law)/ /Leave a comment

The Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, signed on 4 February 2016 among 12 Asia-Pacific economies, faces a rocky road to ratification. In the run-up to the US presidential election in November, both Donald Trump and (for now) Hillary Clinton say they are opposed. Yet Australian Prime Minister Turnbull urged President Obama to put the FTA to a vote in Congress…

Argentina, Awards, foreign direct investment, Investment Arbitration, Uncategorized

(Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) and (Knoetzl Haugeneder Netal Rechtsanwaelte GmbH)/ /1 Comment

For more than a decade, Argentina has been living in a permanent crisis, which affected all sectors of the economy and turned out in an avalanche of investment cases, many of them under the ICSID Convention. Thus, Argentina became one of the most active players in the investor-state dispute settlement system, facing almost 60 cases…