Investment protection

Africa, Asia-Pacific, BIT, Canada, Energy Charter Treaty, Europe, International arbitration, International Law, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, NAFTA, North America, Russia, Set aside an arbitral award, Set aside an international arbitral award, South America

(Investment Arbitration Reporter)/ /Leave a comment

Last year, around this time, I offered a list of 10 investor-state arbitral awards I hoped to see in 2010. If time permits, I may do another list for 2011. But, first I thought I’d take a look back at last year’s list and offer a brief update on those cases. Rather, than do all…

Eastern Europe, Europe, Investment agreements, Investment protection

(Konrad & Justich)/ /5 Comments

Within the last two decades, over 30 new states emerged within the international community. From a political, economic, as well as a legal point of view, the formation of a state is always an expedition into unchartered waters. On a domestic level, the establishment of a sound legal system is the prerequisite for a stable…

BIT, Investment protection

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /1 Comment

Last week I had the privilege to attend an investment arbitration conference and FDI moot court competition at Pepperdine. Kudos to Murdoch University of Australia for winning the competition and my alma mater NYU for winning the highest overall ranking. There was much to ponder in the conference from the likes of Andrea Bjorkland, Todd…

Canada, ICSID Convention, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, NAFTA, North America

(White & Case)/ /Leave a comment
White & Case

Three different investors, with three different claims, in three different situations, have recently been in the news. All three disputes have a Canadian connection. Two involved claims by foreign investors against Canada, one that settled and one that Canada defeated. The third involves a claim by a Canadian investor against the Democratic Republic of Congo….

BIT, ICSID Convention, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Not-for-profit organizations (NGO)

(Investment Arbitration Reporter)/ /Leave a comment

In a recent post, Lisa Bench Nieuwveld raised an issue which has been discussed from time to time on this blog: the potential for not-for-profit activities to be protected under international investment treaties. There is no doubt that not-for-profit organizations face a barrage of abuse and mistreatment at the hands of host countries, and that…

Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Public Policy, Responsibility of States

(University of Victoria Faculty of Law)/ /1 Comment

On 31 August 2010, a group of over 35 academics (not including the current author), published a Public Statement on the International Investment Regime (Statement).  The preamble to the three-page Statement outlines why the Statement has been issued: We have a shared concern for the harm done to the public welfare by the international investment…

Arbitration Agreements, BIT, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection

(University of Victoria Faculty of Law)/ /1 Comment

27 June 2010 marks the 20th anniversary of investment treaty jurisprudence.  On 27 June 1990, the tribunal in Asian Agricultural Products Ltd. v. Sri Lanka (ICSID Case No. ARB/87/3) (AAPL) dispatched its final award to the parties.  The AAPL tribunal (Dr. Ahmed Sadek El-Kosheri (President), Professor Berthold Goldman and Dr. Samuel Asante) was the first…

BIT, Investment protection, United States

(University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law)/ /1 Comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

By the end of the second round of negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in San Francisco June 14-18 some observers were concerned that the lack of inter-agency consensus on the protection of foreign investment risks slowing the negotiation of investment issues in the TPP context. If there is no internal U.S. agreement by the…