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.
24-May-2018
BN Americas
Exmingua is planning to launch arbitration proceedings against Guatemala following the suspension of its Tambor gold project.
23-May-2018
Defense News
The Polish General Counsel has announced that Airbus Helicopters has withdrawn its application for international arbitration over its dispute with Poland.
18-May-2018
Turkey Telegraph
ICSID imposes a fine of 64.5 million euros for a claim by a fund of the state of Abu Dhabi.
17-May-2018
Common Sense Canadian
Canada’s controversial mining sector may be the driving force behind the country’s insistence on protecting foreign investors’ rights over laws that guard its own citizens and environmental values.
14-May-2018
Mondaq
New Zealand has recently signed "side letters" to exclude compulsory Investor State Dispute Settlement with five members of the CPTPP – Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Peru, Viet Nam and Australia.
12-May-2018
European Council
EU member states approved the Commission plans to keep investment protection provisions seperate from trade agreements so that they can be approved without the ratification of national or regional parliaments.
11-May-2018
IATP
The Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commission, a legislator-run, bipartisan governmental body, recently sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative calling for ISDS to be removed in its entirety from NAFTA.
11-May-2018
Korea Times
Elliott Associates is demanding more than $670 million in compensation from the government for losses and damages it claims to have suffered regarding the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in 2015.
9-May-2018
Reuters
Swedish utility Vattenfall has no legal grounds to ask a US arbitration court if it can claim 4.7 billion euros from Berlin for forcing it to halt nuclear production, the German government has said.
7-May-2018
Telecompaper
Telefonica Mexico has withdrawn its arbitration claim against the Mexican government in which it had requested compensation amounting to around EUR 850 million after reaching an agreement with the country.
6-May-2018
EU Observer
Keeping the European project alive requires EU members to abide by the principle of loyalty to European institutions.
3-May-2018
IBS Intelligence
The International Trade Committee launches an inquiry concerning the UK’s investment policy, which will examine the Government’s performance in promoting and facilitating inward and outward investment and its approach, upon UK exit from the EU, to negotiating agreements that liberalise and protect foreign investment.
3-May-2018
CBC
New Jersey company behind quarry proposal in Digby Neck claims damages of $443M US in lost profits.
25-Apr-2018
TNI
A key feature of the “modernisation” process is the inclusion of a controversial investment protection chapter with the same characteristics as the one recently included in the Canada-EU trade agreement.
25-Apr-2018
Wind Power
The Invenergy group has submitted a notice of arbitration against Poland citing violations of Invenergy’s rights as a foreign investor and clear breaches of Poland’s obligations under the United States-Poland bilateral investment treaty.
24-Apr-2018
Venezuelanalysis
US multinational Kimberly-Clark has filed a formal request to take Venezuela to court regarding the expropriation of its abandoned factory by the government of Nicolas Maduro in July 2016.
24-Apr-2018
Daily Nation
The government risks losing up to Sh500 billion in an international arbitration case against mining firm, Cortec, after it failed to provide Sh100 million in the second mini-budget to pay a UK-based law firm representing it in the case.
23-Apr-2018
AFTINET
Colombia’s decision to ban mining activities in the Páramos, a range of environmentally sensitive wetlands that provide approximately 70% of the country’s water supply, has so far led to three treaty-based arbitration cases.
23-Apr-2018
AFTINET
Research shows that mining and energy industries are the most frequent users of Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanisms.
20-Apr-2018
The Gleaner
A Jamaican investor served the government of the Dominican Republic with a notice of arbitration surrounding the state takeover of a recycling facility and waste-to-energy plant.
