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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.

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.
AIDA: State needs to address the conditions in La Oroya
25-Jul-2016 Peru this Week
“We hope that after the decision, the State will concentrated its efforts to provide a sustainable solution to the environmental pollution in the city La Oroya.”
The Empire Files: Bringing corporations to justice with Ecuador’s UN Rep
24-Jul-2016 Tele Sur
For the first time ever, progress is being made at the United Nations for a binging legal instrument that would hold corporations accountable for human rights violations.
Ecuador pays $112 million award to Chevron - central bank
23-Jul-2016 Reuters
Ecuador has paid $112 million to energy company Chevron Corp over a four-decade-old contract dispute, even though it remains in disagreement, the head of the central bank has said.
Shell takes Malampaya tax dispute vs PH to int’l arbitration body
22-Jul-2016 Rappler
Shell Philippines Exploration BV has raised its tax dispute with the Philippine government before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
India fast-tracks BIT talks; Cambodia first, US deal may take time
22-Jul-2016 Financial Express
US ambassador to India Richard Verma recently said ‘things have become a bit more difficult’ after India revised the BIT text
Is TPP a public health threat?
21-Jul-2016 Viet Nam News
The Vietnamese Government should bar certain industries from exploiting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) lest they damage public health, health activists warned.
Celebrating Uruguay’s ISDS victory over Philip Morris?
19-Jul-2016 The Next Turn
A private ISDS tribunal has just ruled in favor of Uruguay over its tobacco labeling legislation. But why do we even allow this game to take place in the first place, regardless of the chance of a fatal outcome.
World Bank panel rejects lawsuit against Peru over smelter
19-Jul-2016 Reuters
A World Bank panel rejected a lawsuit filed against Peru by New York-based Renco Group Inc on technical grounds.
Remodeling India’s investment treaty regime
18-Jul-2016 The Wire
India is seeking to terminate BITs signed with 57 countries and sign joint interpretative statements with the other 25 treaty states – all an outcome of the country’s new model BIT.