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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.

ISDS in the revised CETA: positive steps, but is it a “gold standard”?
23-May-2016 CIGI
Canada and the European Union released a revised Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in February 2016. The revisions focus on the controversial and deeply flawed process of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
6th global to local webinar on May 24th
20-May-2016 Local Futures
The Global to Local Webinar Series addresses key issues in the global to local debate.
Shameless attempt to quietly institutionalise ISDS throughout Europe
19-May-2016 S2B
A new leak reveals that 5 EU member states are proposing to introduce investor-to-state dispute settlement for all cross-border investments within the EU.
Big Tobacco abuses investor-state dispute settlement: law expert
19-May-2016 Health Canal
“Despite the losses and defeats, tobacco companies will keep coming back for more. They will fight on regardless in order to delay and disrupt the rollout of the World Health Organization’s best-practice tobacco control measures,”
The need for a Southern Observatory on transnational investment
18-May-2016 IISD
The objective of the Observatory is to become a forum for the objective settlement of investment disputes with transnational corporations.
Argentina agrees $217 million arbitration deal with energy companies
16-May-2016 Business Recorder
Argentina has agreed to pay $217 million to two energy companies in long-standing arbitration cases stemming from its 2001/02 economic crisis.
Health insurers’ profit dispute sent to the EU court
11-May-2016 Slovak Spectator
Slovakia has made a step towards reversing an arbitration ruling over the ban of generating profits on private health insurers, the Finance Ministry says.
AngloGold files Obuasi dispute with Ghana
6-May-2016 IOL
AngloGold Ashanti said it filed a dispute with Ghana at an international investor arbitration panel due to the country’s failure to protect the company’s Obuasi operation from illegal miners.
Disaster capitalism: Ecuador forced to pay US oil giant $ 180M
30-Apr-2016 Tele Sur
The Ecuadorean government is being forced to use money that could go toward relief efforts to instead pay off a multinational oil company.
Walloon Parliament rejects CETA
29-Apr-2016 Politico
The Walloon Parliament voted against ratification of the Canada-Europe Trade Agreement (CETA). The parliament is worried about social and environmental norms and the investor-state arbitration system.
TTIP: Chevron lobbied for controversial legal right as ’environmental deterrent’
27-Apr-2016 The Guardian
US oil company wanted EU-US trade deal to give foreign investors the legal right to challenge government decision, documents show
TTIP: le gouvernement britannique ignore ses propres avertissements
26-Apr-2016 Sputnik
Les futurs tribunaux spéciaux qui régleront les litiges provoqués par le Traité transatlantique controversé TTIP présentent plus de risques que d’avantages pour les gouvernements européens.
TTIP: UK Government found trade deal had ’lots of risk and no benefit’ in its only assessment
26-Apr-2016 The Independent
This stark warning against TTIP was disclosed in response to a Freedom of Information request by anti-TTIP campaigners
RCEP - draft investment chapter (October 2015)
22-Apr-2016 KEI
As leaked by KEI
RCEP draft text for investment chapter, October 16, 2015 version
22-Apr-2016 KEI
Overall, the investment chapter is designed to give private parties the right to extract costly damages from governments that implement policies that harm profits.
Dutch court overturns $50 billion ruling against Russia in Yukos case
21-Apr-2016 New York Times
In a major victory for the Russian government, a Dutch court overturned an award of more than $50 billion to former shareholders of the defunct oil company Yukos.
TISA plurilateral accord by year end?
19-Apr-2016 SUNS
Trade envoys of the United States, the European Union, and Australia among others decided to accelerate negotiations towards a plurilateral deal called the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) by the end of this year.
Colombia: there’s no place for clean water under ’free trade’
15-Apr-2016 The Ecologist
The latest country to be hooked under ’free trade’ agreements is Colombia sued for tens of billions of dollars for valuing its national parks and the high-altitude Andean wetlands that provide 70% of the nation’s water above the profits of foreign corporations.
Costa Rica’s request to terminate Infinito Gold’s ICSID claim: brief reflections
14-Apr-2016 Rebelión
On 24 July 2015, Costa Rica requested the termination of the arbitral proceedings that the Canadian Mining company, Infinito Gold filed with the Centre for the Settlement of Disputes between Foreign Investors and States.
The TTIP: serious consequences for public health
14-Apr-2016 Nueva Tribuna
Private arbitral tribunals will be able to impose multi-million fines on States whose parliaments have dared to legislate without taking into account corporate expectations.