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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.

US junks Bilateral Investment Treaty talks
29-Jun-2017 The Hindu
Talks deadlocked on investor dispute settlement.
Six years after the ‘Aymarazo’ protests in Peru
28-Jun-2017 Radio Mundo Real
Criminal charges pending against 18 community leaders and a billion-dollar court case at ICSID.
Brazil’s Cooperation and Facilitation Investment Agreements (CFIA) and recent developments
28-Jun-2017 IISD
Brazil has never approved any BITs nor did it sign the ICSID Convention but it continued to receive significant amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI), consolidating its position as one of the world’s top recipients of FDI
Leaked trade papers expose EU failure to uphold transparency and environment standards
26-Jun-2017 Greenpeace
A leak of documents related to a looming trade deal with Japan (known as JEFTA) has revealed the EU’s failure to live up to improve transparency and uphold environmental standards in trade policy promises.
The 835 reasons not to sign trade and investment agreements
23-Jun-2017 TNI
A democratic decision to regulate a privatised essential service or to return it to public control could potentially trigger international investment arbitration if a country is bound by an international investment treaty.
Chevron Corp. wins court battle against Ecuadorian villagers
23-Jun-2017 Newburgh Gazette
Chevron is victorious after the Supreme Court declined to hear a case made against the company by a NY lawyer representing Ecuadorian villagers.
Phase 2 of IIA reform: Modernizing the existing stock of old-generation treaties
21-Jun-2017 UNCTAD
International investment agreement (IIA) reform has made significant progress.
Venezuela pays Gold Reserve $40 million on $800 million ICSID expropriation judgment
19-Jun-2017 Latin America Herald Tribune
Gold Reserve Inc. reports that it has received a $40 million payment on its $800 million judgment that it won at the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in 2014.
Community perspectives in investor-state arbitration
16-Jun-2017 IIED
This report examines whether and how investor-state arbitral tribunals consider community perspectives, interests and rights in their settlement of investment disputes.
The shifting landscape of investor-state arbitration: loyalists, reformists, revolutionaries and undecideds
15-Jun-2017 EJIL: Talk!
The investor-state arbitration landscape is shifting under our feet. The utility and legitimacy of traditional investor-state arbitration have come under fire, but states have not converged on a viable alternative.
European free trade deal talks paused over Trudeau’s insistence on investor-state provision
13-Jun-2017 Council of Canadians
The Norwegian government has put a pause on ’free trade’ talks given the Trudeau government’s demand for an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provision in the Canada-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) agreement.
The art of the free trade agreement
8-Jun-2017 The Hindu
As India prepares to resume FTA talks with the EU, a recent landmark decision by the European Court of Justice on investor-state dispute settlement assumes importance.
‘Investment pact system needs review’
2-Jun-2017 The Hindu
‘IIA, which has a pro-investor bias, aims to protect only capital and not labour,’ said Saurabh Garg, the Joint Secretary in Indian Finance Ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs.
Civil society interventions on the RCEP
1-Jun-2017 Focus on the Global South
In the recent “RCEP 18th Round of Talks,” members of civil society organizations and social movements presented their positions vis-à-vis the RCEP.
No exclusive court for corporations!
1-Jun-2017 Campact
The proposed Multilateral Investment Court would give large corporations an exclusive justice system.
62 new investor-state disputes in 2016
29-May-2017 Financial Express
In the past year, some 62 Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) cases were initiated by the investors against 41 countries.
Ecuador withdraws from its remaining investment treaties
24-May-2017 South Centre
The withdrawal of Ecuador from these BITs responds to the final stage of a review process that started in 2008, and which had led to the establishment of a joint government-civil society audit commission.
Opinion 2/15 and the future of mixity and ISDS
22-May-2017 European Law Blog
The Court’s Opinion has consequences for future EU trade deals such as CETA and potentially a future UK-EU FTA.
A turning of the tide against ISDS?
19-May-2017 EJIL: Talk!
The Court of Justice for the European Union fired a significant shot at investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), and the result is likely to be much more than just a flesh wound.
BRICS in Africa: more of the same? Pacs’ study compares investment treaties between the BRICS and African countries
19-May-2017 PACS
The BRICS Group was born in the century XXI with renewed expectations of changes in the world order through greater participation of the Global South. However, what we have witnessed so far is the consolidation of a new/old unequal world order.