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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.

Parts of Canada-EU trade deal still being revised: chief negotiator
17-Feb-2016 CTV
Canada is working with the European Union to revise controversial investor protection provisions in their landmark free trade deal at the direction of the new Liberal government.
Canada re-opens investment talks with India
17-Feb-2016 Embassy
Canada’s government has officially re-opened negotiations with India over a bilateral investment treaty the two sides nearly agreed upon almost a decade ago.
Japan and the Islamic Republic of Iran sign a bilateral investment agreement
16-Feb-2016 Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
The Agreement stipulates rules for investment protection and the development of an investment environment.
TPP may bankrupt Indonesia, activists say
16-Feb-2016 The Jakarta Post
Indonesia could fall into bankruptcy if the biggest market in Southeast Asia join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would allow investors to sue the government.
US-EU trade will undermine ’tax justice,’ says report
16-Feb-2016 Tele Sur
The secretive TTIP could make it easier than ever for big business to sue governments, according to new research.
Conciliation and arbitration law: Times of change in investment protection in Bolivia
15-Feb-2016 IISD
Bolivia’s experience has shown that attracting foreign investment does not by itself generate the expected development for host states and that, rather, it consists in a mechanism for financing and transferring resources from the South to the North.
Negotiations kick off on a binding treaty on business and human rights
15-Feb-2016 IISD
The UNGPs set out a three-pillar framework: the state duty to protect human rights, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and access to remedy for victims of business-related abuses.
Tenaris wins $173 million dispute in Venezuela
12-Feb-2016 SteelOrbis
Luxembourg-based pipe producer Tenaris announced it won a $172.8 million compensation for the expropriation by Venezuela of Tenaris’ and its subsidiary Talta’s interests.
The whole BIT
11-Feb-2016 Business Today
The revised model text for bilateral investment treaties has addressed many concerns, but to avoid litigations, India must renegotiate existing treaties on the basis of the new norms.
Record number of investor-state arbitrations filed in 2015
9-Feb-2016 UNCTAD
The number of investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) cases filed in 2015 reached a record high of 70.
ICSID orders Argentina to pay US$136 million plus interest for contractual breaches
8-Feb-2016 América Economía
The ICSID, the World Bank’s international arbitration tribunal, ordered Argentina to pay 136.1 million dollars plus interest to the companies, EDF International, Saur International and León Participaciones Argentinas for breach of contract.
Argentina agrees to pay Italian bond holders including “a reasonable interest”
5-Feb-2016 Merco Press
Argentina announced that it reached a $900 million preliminary accord to settle its pending debt with 50,000 Italian holders of defaulted Argentine government bonds. The Italian bondholders had sought about $2.5 billion at the ICSID.
Opinion on the establishment of an investment tribunal in TTIP
3-Feb-2016 DRB
The German Magistrates Association rejects the proposal of the European Commission to establish an investment court within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
This secret UK-Eurotunnel tribunal reveals something disturbing about refugees and TTIP
3-Feb-2016 The Independent
Other infamous examples of ISDS include Philip Morris, the tobacco giant, suing the Australian government for introducing plain cigarette packaging
For Canadian innovators, will TPP mean protection – or colonialism?
1-Feb-2016 The Globe and Mail
Despite Canada’s 14 new free-trade deals, Canada posted record trade deficits and shrinking exports throughout 2015 as prices for tangible commodities fell.
Canadian miners can take Kazakhstan to court for seized assets, rules tribunal
1-Feb-2016 Mining
Eligible Canadian investors with property confiscated by the government of Kazakhstan are now legally entitled to international arbitration under the Canada/USSR BIT.
Al-Jazeera sues Egypt over crackdown and harassments which caused $150mn in losses
29-Jan-2016 Lawyer Herald
Pan-Arab TV Network Al-Jazeera is taking legal actions against Egypt over the closure of the Qatar-owned broadcast network and the harassments of its journalists has led to $150 million worth of losses.
France’s Veolia files EUR 100 mln arbitration suit against Lithuania
28-Jan-2016 The Baltic Course
France’s Veolia, which owns district heat supply companies in Lithuania, filed a suit worth a preliminary 100 million euros against Lithuania.
Court rules in favour of Spain in suit against renewable energy cuts
26-Jan-2016 Reuters
An international arbitrator threw out claims from two investors protesting against Spain’s 2010 cuts to renewable energy subsidies, setting a potential precedent for other lawsuits pending.
Correa: ’corruption’ lets Chevron off hook for Amazon pollution
26-Jan-2016 Tele Sur
The ruling from the District Court of the Hague in favor of U.S. oil giant Chevron effectively exonerated the company from any responsibility for remediating the contamination in the Amazon.