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.
22-Dec-2017
The Gleaner
Businessman Michael Lee-Chin has served notice that he intends to submit to arbitration a claim against the government of the Dominican Republic seeking to recover more than US$300 million in damages for expropriating his investment in that country.
21-Dec-2017
Lexology
In 2017, Peru has faced a number of new investment treaty claims, with several arising in the transportation sector.
21-Dec-2017
Steel Guru
A British investment group has demanded USD 500 million from Russia and accused the country of state-sponsored corporate theft in a battle for control of a Siberian coal mine.
14-Dec-2017
TNI
Impacts of investment arbitration against Latin America and the Carribbean.
14-Dec-2017
Reuters
India’s top court allowed Britain’s Vodafone to initiate a second arbitration process under an India-UK investment pact .
12-Dec-2017
IATP
A new report finds that the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) process, included in NAFTA and other trade and investment agreements, is threatening the right to water around the world.
8-Dec-2017
Nikkei
Japan and the European Union finalized negotiations on a free trade deal, with the two sides aiming to implement it in early 2019.
5-Dec-2017
The Hindu
The Tamil Nadu government moved the Madras High Court for an interim stay on carmaker Nissan Motor from proceeding with international arbitration over the alleged non-payment of incentives being claimed by it from the State.
4-Dec-2017
Vietnam+
The FTA is expected to be completed and start in 2018 or 2019, while the ISDS will be discussed and agreed in later years.
4-Dec-2017
Japan News
Japan and the European Union intend to bring an economic partnership agreement into effect in 2019 as planned by finalizing tariff-related measures first and setting aside those on investment.
4-Dec-2017
The Financial
Under the terms of the agreement, ConocoPhillips will recover a total of $337 million from Ecuador.
4-Dec-2017
Mining Weekly
The arbitrators agreed with the company that Peru had breached its obligations to the company under the Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement when it expropriated the company’s Santa Ana silver project, in 2011.
1-Dec-2017
Reuters
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor has begun international arbitration against India to seek more than $770 million in a dispute over unpaid state incentives.
30-Nov-2017
Radio NZ
Government plans to put a royalty on exports of bottled water could be in jeopardy after a top trade negotiator warned MPs it would breach trade deals.
28-Nov-2017
Friends of the Earth Europe
Ten reasons why the EU’s proposal for a Multilateral Investment Court doesn’t fix a fundamentally flawed system.
28-Nov-2017
IISD
At least 7 current ICJ judges and 13 former ICJ judges have worked—or are currently working—as arbitrators (or annulment committee members) in investor–state dispute settlement cases during their ICJ terms.
28-Nov-2017
BNN
Crystallex International Corp. and Venezuela agreed to settle a US$1.2 billion dispute over the 2011 nationalization of a gold deposit in the South American nation.
20-Nov-2017
Korea Herald
Samsung Engineering has filed an investor-state dispute settlement suit against Saudi Arabia over changes made to its power plant construction contracts for Yanbu Industrial City.
16-Nov-2017
Friends of the Earth Europe
English translation of the German Association of Judges opinion on the proposal for the Multilateral Investment Court system (MIC).
15-Nov-2017
National Post
Ottawa filed a lawsuit against the owners of a broken rail line in northern Manitoba hours after the company said it would file a complaint against the federal government under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
