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.
12-Jun-2019
AFTINET
A new study of trade and investment deals concluded in 2018 by UNCTAD shows that most have either omitted ISDS altogether or severely limited its scope, reports AFTINET
7-Jun-2019
Euractiv
A confidential internal report, obtained by EURACTIV, lists the multiple failings of the Energy Charter secretariat, at a time when the treaty is undergoing a major revision process and is being used by Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline in a first-time legal proceeding against the EU.
3-Jun-2019
EPHA
The tobacco industry has a long history of using international trade deals to force their products into new markets.
1-Jun-2019
Buenos Aires Times
The Cristina Fernández de Kirchner administration nationalised the airline in 2008, paying a symbolic one peso (30 US cents).
29-May-2019
Nevada Capital News
In December of 2018, KCA filed a $300 million-dollar arbitration claim against the government of Guatemala under CAFTA-DR.
29-May-2019
Reuters
Multinational companies will increasingly file massive cases against host countries when climate change policies affect their profits, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said.
22-May-2019
Tele Sur
Thousands of demonstrators across all five continents have joined the International Anti-Chevron day to peacefully protest and display global crimes committed by the transnational company against human rights and the environment.
15-May-2019
News Ghana
The African Union (AU) stressed the need to boost African countries’ capacity on both Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) and state-to-state dispute, as the African Continental Free Trade Area edges closer to entry into force.
14-May-2019
Reuters
Poland’s prime minister and other government officials will meet to discuss a threat by Australia’s Prairie Mining to sue Warsaw over difficulties it faced in developing coal projects
13-May-2019
Inequality
In more than two-thirds of the mining-related lawsuits against governments in the region, communities have actively organizing against the mining activities.
2-May-2019
Mining Watch
We analyzed 38 multi-million dollar claims brought by the mining industry using ISDS and other investment protection laws; in over half, communities are fighting to protect Indigenous territory, water, and more.
2-May-2019
Behind the Numbers
Canadian investors have frequently used the ISDS system to pursue their commercial interests abroad—too often to challenge responsible government policies taken in the public interest in developing countries.
30-Apr-2019
EU Observer
But legality should not be our main concern here. There are much better approaches to international investment and we should be considering them.
30-Apr-2019
Client Earth
In a disappointing judgment, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has ruled today that the investment court system in the Canadian EU trade agreement (CETA) is compatible with EU law.
30-Apr-2019
Stop ISDS
The judgement is disappointing but The case against ISDS (or its rebranded version ICS) has never been primarily a legal one. It is a moral one.
26-Apr-2019
Buenos Aires Times
French water and waste management company receives compensation from the government, settling one of its legal disputes with country dating back to Néstor Kirchner’s presidency.
26-Apr-2019
The Star
Kenya spends at least Sh500 million in defending a single case filed by investors at international courts under the Bilateral Investment Treaties, according to a regional trade negotiation institute.
25-Apr-2019
YubaNet
The company filed the suit in December 2018 for alleged violations of the Central America–Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).
25-Apr-2019
S&P Global
EU plans to extend its internal energy market rules to Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas link to Germany could breach the Energy Charter Treaty, which protects international investors, according to the Swiss-registered company building it.
24-Apr-2019
Al Jazeera
In 2015, Gabriel Resources sued Romania before of the ICSID, asking for a reported four billion dollars in damages, after protests halted plans for Europe’s largest gold mine.
