…change the nature of the dispute resolution process under BITs or other investment treaties which provide for UNCITRAL arbitration, making it more open to public participation and scrutiny. But how…
…2004, para. 52) This “cut-off point”, however, has not been identified and this question needs clarification in the future. It is in this regard that some BITs include a “denial…
…BITs to which they are parties. Argentina has also threatened to do so. Australia has discarded investor-state arbitration in favour of its domestic courts. Various interest groups including the U.S….
…feature of ICSID and more specifically of the vast majority of BITs currently in effect, is that they recognize that the international investment regime must grant certain minimal conditions to…
…that this situation calls for a different treatment from the one under international law instruments like BITs. The nature of the dispute was contractual and the relationship was recognised as…
…The roots of the debate: Investor’s substantive rights and countermeasures The debate as to whether investors possess individual rights under BITs was brought to the forefront by the three “sweetener”…
…of the Australian Government’s resolution to no longer include investor-state dispute settlement provisions in BITs and FTAs, a decision which sent shockwaves throughout the international arbitration community and placed a…
…not concern itself with the question of denial of benefits clauses found in some BITs. States are, however, well advised to include in contracts with investors a requirement of prior…
…about ratification and turning BITs into legally binding and enforceable commitments. The situation is even more dramatic when the intra-African BITs are broken down geographically. Whereas most states in North…
…force between individual EU governments with non-EU countries. In 2010, the Commission’s trade negotiations unit surprised with an ambitious plan to phase out these Extra-EU BITs within the near-term –…
…equitable treatment” standards. By fabricating new obligations under these standards – obligations not contemplated when countries signed FTAs and BITs – tribunals are then issuing stunningly arbitrary awards. Tribunal-fabricated obligations…
…Treaties (BITs) is increasingly resulting in diverse, damaging and direct impacts on peoples’ day-to-day lives around the world. ISDR has enabled a stunning array of investor-state attacks on health, tobacco,…
…have BITs, and at the same time, we continue to receive investment from jurisdictions with which we have no BITs. In short, BITs are not decisive in attracting investment.” The…
…governments on alert that a long-overlooked clause found in some BITs – and importable into others by means of an MFN clause – could create liability when local courts and…
…clause? As recently as 2006, Yannaca-Small has estimated that about 40% of the then existing BITs contained umbrella clauses. (See Yannaca-Small, K., Interpretation of the Umbrella Clause in Investment Agreements,…
…under BITs. To this end, the award is a valuable addition to a growing number of ICSID awards applying the proportionality principle in the international investment context. The award is…
…BITs as long as certain conditions set forth by the Commission are met. Intra-EU BITs Intra-EU BITs are typically BITs that were entered into between Member States and third countries…
…may be hesitant to broaden the scope of the BITs by attributing the conduct of entities such as a university to a State. The issue of attribution is likely to…
…not be surprising considering other decisions which have dealt with the same or a similar litigation requirement in other BITs, or indeed the Argentina-Italy BIT. Most of these decisions –…
…conference that there are already a handful of BITs which provide the ICC as a dispute resolution option. It was also intriguing to hear some of the inside scoop from…
…BITs allow some possibility of using the ICC Rules, either by expressly providing that option or by allowing the parties to agree on an institution and rules beyond those specified…
…in intra-EU bilateral investment treaties do not conflict with EU law and that investors can therefore continue to bring claims against the host state on the basis of such provisions….
…resolve disputes with Venezuela. Of course, there is a school of thought which holds that the consent found in the relevant BITs lives on notwithstanding any ICSID withdrawal. But, if…
…intellectual property rights. The tobacco company contends that such expropriation is unlawful as it does not meet certain fundamental requirements under the BITs in question, including the failure to provide…
