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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.

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.
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.