Investment Arbitration

Commercial Arbitration, ICCA Edinburgh 2022, Investment Arbitration, sociology of international arbitration

, (International Council for Commercial Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

The theme of this year’s ICCA Congress was “Arbitration’s Age of Enlightenment?”, a reference to the Scottish Enlightenment, an age in which the old order was challenged, and new ideas led to innovation in several fields. The ICCA Programme Committee’s formulation of the Congress theme as a question rather than a statement is telling: its…

Environment, ESG, HK Arbitration Week, Investment Arbitration

, (K&L Gates)/ /Leave a comment

On the third day of Hong Kong Arbitration Week 2022, HKIAC hosted a panel as part of the ADR in Asia Conference entitled “Beyond Mere Greenwashing? The Impact of ESG on International Arbitration”. This panel brought together a group of specialists who discussed what environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) is, how it impacts dispute resolution,…

BIT, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Uncategorized

(AnchayilKumar) and (JSA, Advocates & Solicitors)/ /2 Comments

India’s Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs (the “PCEA”) recently submitted two reports to the Parliament relating to bilateral investment treaties (“BITs”). The first report –submitted in December 2021 – contained a broad review of India’s engagement with BITs and made several recommendations. The second report – submitted in July 2022 – took note of the…

Investment Arbitration, Jurisdictional challenge, Latin America, Peru, Waiver

, (Bullard Falla Ezcurra +)/ /Leave a comment
Asociación Latinoamericana de Arbitraje (ALARB)

On August 5, 2022, the Tribunal hearing the Bacilio Amorrortu v. The Republic of Peru case issued its Partial Award on Jurisdiction, upholding the State’s objection that Mr. Amorrortu did not provide a valid waiver as required by the “No U-Turn Clause” established in article 10.18.2 of the United States – Peru Trade Promotion Agreement…

Arbitrators, Hong Kong, ICCA, ICCA Edinburgh 2022, Investment Arbitration

(CMS) and (Law Society of Scotland)/ /2 Comments

After a gala evening at the National Museum of Scotland filled with Scottish gastronomy and ceilidh dancing, delegates returned to the conference centre for the last day of the ICCA Congress. Renaissance Arbitrator This panel asked: “what can lawyers and arbitrators learn from disciplines outside the law and arbitration?”. That question is particularly timely as…

IBA, Investment Arbitration, Prague Rules, Transparency, Transparency in investment arbitrations

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International arbitration has been regarded as a flexible and efficient dispute resolution mechanism. While this may hold true for most phases of the arbitration, document production (i.e., the phase where a party requests the other party to produce documents that are in the other party’s possession and are relevant to the dispute and material to…

Costa Rica, Fair and Equitable Treatment, ICSID Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Latin America

(CICA-AmCham)/ /Leave a comment

On 29 June 2022, an ICSID Tribunal composed of Alexis Mourre, Luis González García and Adolfo Jiménez issued its Final Award in the case brought by Alejandro Diego Díaz Gaspar, a Spanish national, against Costa Rica. The majority of the Tribunal ultimately found minor breaches of the underlying Costa Rica-Spain Bilateral Investment Treaty (the “Treaty”)…

ECT Modernisation, Environment, ESG, EU Law, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, Investment law, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS Reform

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Negotiations towards a modernized Energy Charter Treaty (ECT, Treaty) ended on 24 June 2022, with the States Parties reaching an agreement in principle following discussions towards reform that began in November 2017. While the final text of the modernized Treaty has not yet been published, the Secretariat of the ECT in June issued a public…

Code of Conduct, Conflicts of interest, Disclosure, double hatting, ICSID, Independence and Impartiality, Institutional Rules, Investment Arbitration

(Chaffetz Lindsey LLP) and (Holland & Knight LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The New York International Arbitration Center’s (“NYIAC”) annual Grand Central Forum took place on 13 July 2022. The event coincided with the 55th session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (“UNCITRAL”) held in New York which, among other topics, focused on the recent fourth draft of the joint ICSID-UNCITRAL Code of Conduct…

Canada, Investment Arbitration, NAFTA, USMCA

(University of Ottawa Faculty of law)/ /Leave a comment

This question of first impression under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) has been brought to the fore with the spring 2022 publication of the Request for Arbitration (“Request”) submitted by TC Energy Corporation and TransCanada PipeLines Limited against United States (dated November 22, 2021) and the Notice of Intent (“Notice”) submitted by Alberta Petroleum Marketing…

BIT, Fair and Equitable Treatment, ICSID Arbitration, Intra-EU ISDS, Investment Arbitration, Spain

(University of Montreal) and (Ho Chi Minh City University of Law)/ /Leave a comment

The Spanish Cases Saga illustrates the arduous task of balancing the host state’s right to regulate and an investor’s economic interests. This post summarizes the tribunal’s reasoning in Novenergia v. Spain and Stadtwerke München v. Spain regarding FET breaches in the energy sector. The post argues that the latter case adopts a clearer analysis of…

Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, Investment protection, Russia, Ukraine

, (Binder Grösswang)/ /Leave a comment

Following the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, dozens of states imposed sanctions against Russia. In response, Russia imposed or threatened to impose severe countermeasures on foreign investments associated with such “unfriendly states”. In this regard, several news outlets reported that Russia is in the process of implementing legislation that will interfere with foreign investments in…

Interpretation, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investment Treaties

(University of Ottawa)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

States have spent the last decade and a half rebalancing the design of their international investment agreements (IIAs). In their new-generation IIAs, states have clarified core protective standards, omitted controversial clauses, and inserted new carve-outs and general exceptions. These reformed treaties, it was hoped, would provide investment tribunals with “new analytical devices for adjudicating disputes…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Code of Conduct, Disclosure, ICSID, Investment Arbitration, UNCITRAL

(Association ARBITRI)/ /Leave a comment

Two years since it was published, the draft of the Code of Conduct for Adjudicators in International Investment Disputes is still subject to discussion and refinement by States and other stakeholders participating in the UNCITRAL Working Group III (WG III). This evolving instrument, developed jointly by the ICSID and UNCITRAL Secretariats, is the first attempt…

ICSID, International arbitration, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Jurisdiction

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The debate surrounding the meaning and scope of the term ‘investment’ under the ICSID Convention is a product of the larger tussle between capital exporting and capital importing states, which convened at Washington in the search for a mutually beneficial agreement on foreign investments. It has been argued by Prof. Julian Davis Mortenson that ‘investment’…

ICSID, ICSID Amendments, ICSID Proceedings, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Third party funding

(Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On March 21, 2022, the Member States of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) approved a comprehensive reform of its rules and regulations, including the rules of procedure for ICSID arbitration proceedings (“New ICSID Rules”). Drafted over a five-year consultation process and six working papers, this profound amendment aims to “modernize, simplify,…

ICSID, ICSID Amendments, ICSID Arbitration, International dispute resolution, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, Investment law, Uncategorized

(Consultant, World Bank)/ /1 Comment

On 21 March 2022, the Administrative Council of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes , or ICSID, approved extensive amendments  of ICSID’s Regulations and Rules. The Regulations and Rules prominently include the rules of procedure for arbitration proceedings initiated under the constituent treaty of ICSID, the 1965 Convention on the Settlement of Investment…

Fair and Equitable Treatment, International Investment Arbitration, International Investment Law, International Law, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, Investment law, Investment protection, Minimum Standard of Treatment

, (Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP) and (Hughes Hubbard LLP)/ /Leave a comment

FET is often described as the core standard of international investment law.  Recently, there has been renewed discussion on its intended meaning, by reference to a range of source materials that arguably reflect States’ intentions at the time of concluding investment treaties.  On December 10, 2021, the Dispute Resolution Interest Group of the American Society…

ICSID, ICSID Convention, Investment Arbitration, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, Turkey, Turkish Court of Cassation

, (Baysal & Demir Law Firm)/ /Leave a comment

It is trite to suggest that the awards rendered under the aegis of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) are insulated from national court review. In the context of recognition and enforcement, national courts are not permitted to examine ICSID arbitral awards. In 2006, 50 years after the ICSID Convention came into force, commentators…

COVID-19, Investment Arbitration, Latin America, Pensions, Technology

(Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP) and (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer)/ /Leave a comment

For the last 20 years Latin America has been a fertile ground for ISDS. From the cases against Argentina in the early 2000s, to those against Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico and Bolivia in subsequent years, and more recently Peru and Colombia, investment treaty disputes in the region have continued to arise. While the seeds of the…

Colombia, Investment Arbitration, Latin America, Preliminary Issues, time-limits

, (Juan Felipe Merizalde Abogados)/ /Leave a comment

The recent Award in AFC v. Colombia dated 24 February 2022 provides new developments on the scope of Rule 41(5) of the Arbitration Rules of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (the “ICSID Rules”). The Tribunal dismissed the claims of AFC Investment Solutions S.L. (the “Claimant”) after accepting a defense raised by…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, BIT, International arbitration, Intra-EU BITs, Investment Arbitration, Joint Interpretation Clauses, NAFTA, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

(University of Naples Federico II)/ /Leave a comment

State parties’ “mutual actions” over a treaty – including interventions such as interpretation, modification and termination – have flourished in recent investment treaty practice. This trend brings to the fore the question of whether there are any limits to such actions, particularly due to the involvement of non-State entities, such as investors and arbitral tribunals….

2021 in Review, International Investment Law, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, Investment law, Investment protection, Investor-State arbitration, Ukraine

(Visiting Lawyer at Linklaters) and , (AVELLUM)/ /Leave a comment

The year 2021 has been the busiest year for Ukraine since 2008, with four investment arbitrations initiated against Ukraine. The odds were not always in Ukraine’s favour. Having secured the dismissal of the case for lack of jurisdiction in Littop and others v. Ukraine, Ukraine was defeated by the investor in Olympic Entertainment v. Ukraine….

Investment Arbitration, Third party funding, UNCITRAL, VIAC, Working Group III

, , , , (Nivalion AG)/ /Leave a comment

In early 2021, we wrote a post on this blog welcoming the inclusion of specific provisions on third-party funding (TPF) in the 2021 ICC Arbitration Rules. Recent regulatory developments in TPF in investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS), including publication of the VIAC Rules of Investment Arbitration and Mediation (VIAC Investment Arbitration Rules), have enticed us to…