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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.

A BIT too late
16-Aug-2016 Financial Express
It is likely that the Antrix case — which could see the Government of India paying $1 billion if it loses — would have had a different outcome had the new model BIT been at issue.
RCEP - draft investment text: China (based on negotiating draft of Oct 2015)
16-Aug-2016 RCEP Legal
Bear Creek Mining Corporation v. Republic of Peru (ICSID Case No. ARB/14/21) – public hearing
15-Aug-2016 ICSID
​A hearing on jurisdiction and the merits in the case will be transmitted live via internet feed from 7-14 September 2016.
No logo - Tobacco regulation
13-Aug-2016 The Economist
Three years ago, the government of Togo received a letter from Philip Morris International outlining how plain packaging would violate binding global and regional agreements.
India writes to Singapore, Japan and South Korea to recast investment deals
11-Aug-2016 Economic Times
India has turned its attention to comprehensive economic partnership agreements with Singapore, Japan and South Korea after having fixed the loopholes in the much-abused investment treaties with Mauritius and Cyprus.
US court rules for Chevron in Ecuador rainforest-damage case
10-Aug-2016 LA Times
Ecuadorean plaintiffs cannot collect a $9-billion judgment in the US against Chevron Corp. for rainforest damage, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
How the Dutch could derail CETA
9-Aug-2016 New Internationalist
As thousands discuss free trade at the World Social Forum in Montreal, Canada’s experience with NAFTA may offer lessons for the Netherlands, writes Niels Jongerius
Bilateral Investment Treaty model to minimise Cairn Energy type dispute: Nirmala Sitharaman
8-Aug-2016 PTI
The government on Monday said it has framed the model Bilateral Investment Treaty to minimise Cairn Energy type of dispute which has resulted in demand for compensation of $5.6 billion from India.
Glencore begins arbitration over Bolivia assets expropriation
5-Aug-2016 BNamericas
Swiss trader Glencore filed for arbitration against the Bolivian government for the expropriation of its mining and smelting assets, adding to a series of lawsuits against the Andean country.
Water for gold
5-Aug-2016 Loading Docs
Water for Gold tells the alarming story of how international trade law is leading us to trade our most basic rights to clean, safe water for access to gold.
Briefer on the RCEP – Robbing communities to extract profit
5-Aug-2016 APWLD
Similar to the TPP, this trade agreement will institutionalise inequalities;it will severely curtail peoples’ rights and freedoms and cement corporate rights over national public interest law and the right of governments to govern in the interests of their constituents.
Big Tobacco’s controversial, ailing crusade against plain packaging
4-Aug-2016 The Economist
Philip Morris International sent a letter to the government of Togo. It outlined how plain packaging would violate binding global and regional agreements. Togo was in no position to anger its international partners, it suggested.
Civil society groups say No to investors suing States in RCEP
3-Aug-2016
95 civil society organisations strongly and publicly urge countries negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to reject ISDS in the agreement.
RCEP meet: focus on investor-state dispute
3-Aug-2016 Deccan Herald
RCEP trade ministers will meet in Laos on August 5 to try and resolve issues that are stuck in negotiations.
CEZ seeking hundreds of millions of euros from Bulgaria in arbitration
29-Jul-2016 Reuters
Czech utility CEZ has launched arbitration seeking hundreds of millions of euros from Bulgaria for failure to protect its energy investments
Who really won the legal battle between Philip Morris and Uruguay?
28-Jul-2016 The Guardian
The tobacco giant has to pay $7m to the small South American nation in a dispute over cigarette adverts. But the case could still set a worrying precedent.
The dark matter in Antrix-Devas deal
28-Jul-2016 The Hindu
The arbitration setback for India does not come as a surprise, given the shenanigans. But reputational concerns arise.
KazMunayGas companies issue notice of investment dispute to the Government of Romania
27-Jul-2016 PRNewswire
The arbitration dispute concerns the treatment applied by the Romanian authorities to the investments performed by KMG and KMGI in their Romanian subsidiaries.
TTIP: The most dangerous weapon in the hands of the fossil fuel industry
27-Jul-2016 The Ecologist
The elephant in the room is here and it is huge: the word "climate" means something totally different in the TTIP papers.
India has lost international arbitration case, says Devas
27-Jul-2016 The TImes of India
India has lost its arbitration case in an international tribunal against the Bengaluru-based Devas Multimedia Private Ltd. for cancelling the space/satellite contract with the government-owned Antrix Corporation.