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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.

TTIP: EU and US vow to speed up talks on trade deal
29-Feb-2016 The Guardian
Negotiators confirm they hope to reach agreement on Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership by end of year.
Poland says to cancel bilateral investment treaties
26-Feb-2016 Global Post
EU member Poland wants to cancel its bilateral investment treaties (BITS) on the basis of which foreign investors have lodged claims worth nearly a billion euros in international arbitration.
Mozilla, EFF, and Creative Commons call for more openness in trade negotiations
25-Feb-2016 Ars Technica
Browser maker Mozilla, digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Creative Commons have called for more openness in global trade agreements.
Venezuela, Gold Reserve to settle arbitration dispute with joint venture
25-Feb-2016 Reuters
Venezuela and Canadian mining company Gold Reserve signed a memorandum of understanding to settle a protracted arbitration dispute over a gold concession.
Canada and Hong Kong FIPA signed: A boost to the bilateral business relation
24-Feb-2016 Lexology
FIPA sets out respective rights and reciprocal binding obligations for Canada and Hong Kong, including non-discriminatory treatment, minimum standard of treatment and dispute resolutions rules.
NAFTA wind energy dispute ramps up
23-Feb-2016 ICTSD
The case concerns a moratorium imposed in 2011 by the Canadian province of Ontario on offshore wind energy generation projects, citing public concerns and scientific uncertainties about the health, safety, and environmental effects.
The real danger in TPP
22-Feb-2016 CNN
This threat to the law and to democratic processes has no place in a 21st century trade agreement and should be removed before these agreements can be seriously considered.
Investment court system, ISDS in disguise: 10 reasons why the EU’s proposal doesn’t fix a flawed system
18-Feb-2016 Friends of the Earth Europe
The European Commission has proposed a new ’Investment Court System’ to replace the current investor to state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and other future investment deals.
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.