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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.

Coalition may add clause to Japan trade deal that lets foreign companies sue Australia
8-Jun-2016 The Guardian
Provision allows firms to sue in international tribunal if laws introduced or changed that hurt their interests.
Eco-groups join in $ 101M Bilcon quarry fight
8-Jun-2016 The Chronicle Herald
The environmental lobby is going to bat for the federal and provincial governments against international big business in a $101-million argument.
U.S. top court rejects Ecuador challenge to Chevron arbitration award
8-Jun-2016 Reuters
The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a $96 million international arbitration award issued in 2011 in favor of energy company Chevron in a dispute over the development of oil fields in Ecuador.
Canadian junior miner, Colombia in trade dispute over rights at national park
8-Jun-2016 Financial Post
A small Canadian mining company has found itself at the centre of a highly charged dispute over its rights to mine for gold in a Colombian nature reserve.
Labor pledges to review trade deals that let companies sue Australia
8-Jun-2016 The Guardian
ALP says it will try to change three major agreements that allow corporations to sue if they think a government has damaged their interests
Groups urge U.S. Congress to reject TPP over environmental concerns
6-Jun-2016 Reuters
More than 450 groups on Monday called on Congress to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) if it comes up for a vote this fall, saying the trade deal would allow fossil fuel companies to contest U.S. environmental rules in extrajudicial tribunals.
Hedge fund sues Peru for $ 1.6 billion over agrarian bonds
3-Jun-2016 Peru Reports
Gramercy Funds Management has filed a $1.6 billion claim against Peru for its refusal to redeem land bonds from the 1970s agrarian reform.
Copper Mesa Mining Corporation awarded US$24.365 million for expropriation of two mining projects by Ecuador
3-Jun-2016 Market Watch
The Permanent Court of Arbitration awarded the Company damages of US$19,447,498, plus pre- and post-award interest.
UN Treaty on transnational corporations, other business enterprises & human rights: Options for justice
31-May-2016 S2B
This report discusses options for the following aspects of the treaty: access to remedy; enforcement mechanisms; and its relationship with the trade and investment regime.
Centerra Gold delivers notice of arbitration to Kyrgyz Republic Government
31-May-2016 Benziga
Centerra Gold Inc.reports that it has delivered a notice of arbitration to the Kyrgyz Republic Government in connection with certain ongoing disputes relating to the Kumtor mining project.
EU-Mexico trade talks to start June 13, 14
31-May-2016 Politico
The EU and Mexico will kick off its first negotiation round for overhauling their bilateral trade agreement, talks that will include the EU’s new Investment Court System (ICS).
Emails show TPP ’collusion’ between big banks & Obama administration
30-May-2016 Common Dreams
Emails obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show U.S. Trade Rep. Michael Froman discussing TPP with Goldman Sachs lobbyists
India seeks fresh treaties with 47 nations
30-May-2016 The Economic Times
India has written to 47 countries to nullify the existing bilateral investment agreements and ink fresh treaties that will make it mandatory for foreign investors to exhaust local judicial remedies before seeking arbitration.
Investment-related dispute settlement: Towards an inclusive multilateral approach
29-May-2016 IISD
Results from an IISD expert meeting held in Montreux, Switzerland, May 23–24, 2016.
The Comprehensive Economic Theft Agreement (CETA)
27-May-2016 New Generation Trade Blog
The new trade is something with much more weight: It’s about community power and who gets to make decisions.
Why the new BIT may not work
26-May-2016 The Hindu
The new bilateral investment treaty’s gratuitous focus on local courts and taxation may not please our partners.
Australia-Hong Kong investment ruling released in plain packaging case
26-May-2016 ICTSD
The tribunal considered that the main and determinative reason for the 2011 restructuring was in order for the tobacco giant to bring a legal claim under the BIT Treaty, using a Hong Kong-based entity.
Member states’ proposal for more investor protection legally flawed
25-May-2016 Client Earth
The proposal would fundamentally undermine the EU’s internal market provisions and the role of the courts of the Member States and the European Court of Justice in safeguarding their operation.
Signing away sovereignty
24-May-2016 TNI
The Philippines has a web of investment treaties which severely constrain the government’s ability to regulate or close polluting mines, a legal straitjacket that will become even tighter if the EU–Philippines Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) proceed
EU and Philippines kick off trade talks today
23-May-2016 Politico
Philippine trade negotiators meet their DG Trade counterparts for a first round of trade talks, five months after they were announced, but nobody expects a cakewalk.