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.
8-Dec-2016
ABC News
A new report finds that corporations have launched 50 lawsuits, worth at least $US31 billion, using secret international arbitration tribunals against 11 countries in the Asian region.
7-Dec-2016
Digital Look
A tribunal has struck out a claim by Churchill Mining for damages after Indonesia’s government revoked its licence for a coal project.
7-Dec-2016
Lexology
The conclusion of negotiations between India and Brazil culminating in a near-final treaty between the two nations.
6-Dec-2016
ABC
The problem with free trade deals is they rarely are about trade. In fact, trade usually is a side issue. And the TPP was a classic case in point.
6-Dec-2016
Newstalk
Officials in Brussels have announced that they are close to securing a free trade agreement with Japan.
1-Dec-2016
Jakarta Post
Indonesia will seek a win-win outcome for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the European Union, having exchanged views on a number of crucial sticking points ahead of the next round of negotiations in January.
30-Nov-2016
La Libre
La crise du mois d’octobre dernier était peut-être inutile.
30-Nov-2016
Vieuws
The European Commission wants to give a strong push within the EU and around the globe for the establishment of a multilateral investment dispute settlement system.
29-Nov-2016
Business Standard
The EU terms India’s move ’unilateral’, says lack of investor protection might stop European investments to India.
24-Nov-2016
Hindustan Times
India will not renew an investment treaty with the Netherlands that will expire on November 30 as part of its plan to rework all similar pacts it signed with other countries.
22-Nov-2016
Sierra Club
We urgently need a new approach to trade that prioritizes the needs of people and planet.
21-Nov-2016
Mexico Star
Hong Kong and Chile confirmed that they have signed a bilateral investment agreement at the APEC summit.
17-Nov-2016
The Guardian
Rising inequality is largely to blame for this electoral upset. Continuing with business as usual is not an option.
16-Nov-2016
TeleSUR
The oil giant Chevron Texaco and its decades-long battle to avoid paying damages it owes in one of the worst environmental disasters in history.
16-Nov-2016
Alternet
Our trade agreements—current and proposed—don’t send the right signals for the U.S. and other countries to meet their Paris commitments.
10-Nov-2016
Reuters
A battle over plans to build a huge gold mine in Rosia Montana, a Romanian village boasting intact Roman mining shafts and 18th century houses, has moved to an international stage.
9-Nov-2016
Mongabay
NAFTA, critics say, included investment provisions that inherently created an uneven playing field, allowing corporate investors to directly sue national governments for mega-millions and ultimately sidestep domestic environmental laws.
8-Nov-2016
Vieuws
The move follows the Commission’s pledge from last year to “start work, together with other countries, on setting up a permanent International Investment Court.”
3-Nov-2016
Bordelex
Once a desirable form of European international relations endorsed by the Commission, Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) became a problematic issue after the accession of former socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe to the European Union, and with the emergence of the first intra-EU investment arbitration – ISDS – cases.
28-Oct-2016
Inequality
In a tale of people power over corporate power, a tribunal has ruled against a global company in a case over mining rights. Now we need to block trade deals that allow these “investor-state” lawsuits.
