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investor-state disputes | ISDS

Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) refers to a way of handling conflicts under international investment agreements whereby companies from one party are allowed to sue the government of another party. This means they can file a complaint and seek compensation for damages. Many BITs and investment chapters of FTAs allow for this if the investor’s expectation of a profit has been negatively affected by some action that the host government took, such as changing a policy. The dispute is normally handled not in a public court but through a private abritration panel. The usual venues where these proceedings take place are the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (World Bank), the International Chamber of Commerce, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law or the International Court of Justice.

ISDS is a hot topic right now because it is being challenged very strongly by concerned citizens in the context of the EU-US TTIP negotiations, the TransPacific Partnership talks and the CETA deal between Canada and the EU.

Honduras fights back against global oligarchy
18-Mar-2025 Public Seminar
How an unregulated techno-utopia came into existence and continues to sabotage a nation’s sovereignty.
Brookfield files US$2.7 billion case against Peru over toll roads
14-Mar-2025 Financial Post
The action is being taken under the umbrella of the free trade agreement between Peru and Canada.
Egypt approves investment protection deal with Saudi Arabia
13-Mar-2025 Arab News
Egypt’s parliament has approved a bilateral investment protection agreement with Saudi Arabia, aiming to boost capital inflows, create jobs, and strengthen economic ties between the two nations.
Allowing foreign firms to sue governments for lost profits is legal terrorism – it must end
10-Mar-2025 The Guardian
Investor–state dispute settlements don’t just mean growing debt burdens for countries: they are also a barrier to action on the climate crisis.
"Totally irresponsible": how Exxon is exploiting international law to sue the Dutch government
10-Mar-2025 Land and Climate Review
Exxon owes the people of Groningen millions in compensation for damage caused by gas extraction. Thanks to an obscure legal instrument, it could be the residents of the province that end up compensating the fossil fuel giant.
The ICSID ruling states that a bribe was demanded for Grandi
10-Mar-2025 Koha
Kosovo will pay over 6.7 million euros to MabCo Constructions, owned by former President Behgjet Pacolli, following a decision by the Arbitration Tribunal in Washington.
Why fear of billion-dollar lawsuits stops countries phasing out fossil fuels
7-Mar-2025 The Guardian
Companies can sue governments for closing oilfields and mines – and the risk of huge damages is already stopping countries from passing green laws, ministers say.
The rights of nature become a rallying point against an ascendant mining industry
7-Mar-2025 Inside Climate News
Communities and ecosystems across the globe face heavy environmental damage from intensifying mining operations. A people’s tribunal probed the Canadian mining industry’s impact on the natural world and the people defending it.
Revealed: how Wall Street is making millions betting against green laws
6-Mar-2025 The Guardian
Fossil-fuel and mining firms have won $92bn of public money from states, with a growing number of cases backed by financial speculators
Gold Reserve announces filing of international arbitration against the Venezuelan government
6-Mar-2025 PR Newswire
The arbitration arises from Venezuela’s measures that deprived GR Mining of its rights to, and materially damaged its investment in, the multi-billion-dollar Siembra Minera mining project located in Venezuela.
Corporate colonization through trade: A new scramble for Africa
5-Mar-2025 Public Citizen
Investor-State Dispute Settlement has become a significant concern for African nations, as it often privileges multinational corporations at the expense of local governance and public welfare.
Montero receives final instalment of US$7 million from Tanzania
5-Mar-2025 The Manila Times
Montero confirms that US$7,000,000 in cash have been received by the Company from Tanzania, which is expected to put an end to the dispute in connection with Tanzania’s expropriation of Montero’s Wigu Hill rare earth element project.
Fearing toxic waste, Greenland ended uranium mining. Now, they could be forced to restart - or pay $11bn
5-Mar-2025 The Guardian
The island is being sued by a mining company over its decision, and faces paying nine times its annual budget in damages if it loses.
The new Canada-Ecuador trade deal pushes anti-democratic trade policy
27-Feb-2025 CCPA
Amidst all the chaos brought on by Trump’s tariff threats, Canada’s federal trade minister celebrated a minor win this month: the finalization of a trade agreement with Ecuador.
Honduras tops ICSID disputes list in 2024
21-Feb-2025 CDR
The centre’s latest caseload statistics reveals 55 new arbitrations were lodged in 2024. Honduras was involved in five of them.
Good for mining but bad for democracy? Why Indigenous groups in Ecuador oppose free trade deal with Canada
17-Feb-2025 CBC
Ecuador’s largest Indigenous organization is vowing to fight a now-concluded free trade agreement with Canada, warning it could encourage human rights abuses in the ecologically and culturally diverse South American country.
Belaruskali demands €12bn in damages from Lithuania over transit sanctions
4-Feb-2025 LRT
Belarusian potash fertiliser producer Belaruskali wants 12 billion US dollars in compensation from Lithuania after it suspended transit shipments across its territory in 2022.
Model Bilateral Investment Treaty to be made more investor friendly: FM
3-Feb-2025 The Hindu BusinessLine
Revamp will help expedite new BITs with partner countries; may push FTA talks.
Uruguay faces five international lawsuits
30-Jan-2025 Prensa Latina
Uruguay is currently facing five international lawsuits, according to the future Pro-secretary of the Presidency, Jorge Lopez, of the Frente Amplio government that will take office on March 1.
The Slovak Republic won the arbitration proceedings against the American company Discovery Global LLC
27-Jan-2025 Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic
The subject of the dispute was the issue of conducting geological exploration for the purpose of future exploitation of oil and natural gas.