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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.

Indigenous groups win right to seize Chevron’s Canadian sssets over $18 billion in Amazon pollution
28-Dec-2013 Democracy Now
A court in Canada has ruled Ecuadorean farmers and fishermen can try to seize the assets of oil giant Chevron based on a 2011 decision in an Ecuadorean court found it liable for nearly three decades of soil and water pollution near oil wells, and said it had ruined the health and livelihoods of people living in nearby areas of the Amazon rainforest.
Open letter of civil society against investor privileges in TTIP
27-Dec-2013 Tlaxcala
Over 100 civil society groups and social movements from Europe and the USA have signed on an open letter that was sent to the chief negotiators of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to voice one joint demand: to exclude any Investor-state Dispute Settlement mechanism from the TTIP
Romania loses major arbitration case
19-Dec-2013 Global Legal Post
In a victory which may have major ramifications for international law, US law firm King & Spalding has won a $250 million arbitration case for Romanian company Micula against the Republic of Romania.
India-UAE BIPPA: Government builds safeguards to protect itself
18-Dec-2013 Economic Times
India has introduced provisions in the just-concluded bilateral investment protection and promotion agreement (BIPPA) with the United Arab Emirates to ensure that only executive decisions can be challenged and that too within a stipulated period.
Is ICSID really good for the Canadian taxpayer?
26-Nov-2013
Most trade lawyers across the country are lauding Canada’s ratification of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Convention. But they glaze over the serious and far-reaching effects for Canadian public policy.
Ecuador high court upholds Chevron verdict, halves fine
13-Nov-2013 Reuters
Ecuador’s highest court upheld a verdict that US oil company Chevron Corp is responsible for pollution in an Amazon rainforest, but halved the fine imposed in a previous trial to $9.5 billion, a decision the company dismissed as illegitimate.
Harper moves to give up more Canadian sovereignty
12-Nov-2013
Tthe Harper government recently committed Canada to ratify the ICSID Convention.
Israeli investors seek damages from Hungary in international arbitration court
10-Nov-2013
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), in Washington, DC, will hear a case by Israeli investors seeking more than 100 billion forints (EUR 337m) in damages from the state of Hungary because of a failed casino investment, daily Magyar Nemzet said on its website on Saturday.
CETA is more about corporate rights than free trade
9-Nov-2013
Since announcing the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) two weeks ago Harper’s Conservatives have repeatedly labelled those questioning the deal as “anti-trade”. But this Canada-European Union accord is one part trade and four parts ‘corporate bill of rights’.
Govt to cough up Rs90m for ICSID case
8-Nov-2013
The federal government, which is facing financial crisis and seeking loans from IMF and other financial institutes, is willing to pay Rs90 million to a Pakistani law firm to plead its case in an international court.
Argentina settles five outstanding investment treaty arbitration claims in historic break with its anti-enforcement stance
3-Nov-2013
Argentina has agreed to settle five separate investment treaty arbitration claims at a cost of around USD 500 million, in an historic departure from the Latin American state’s refusal to comply with awards made by international investment treaty arbitration bodies.
Canada ratifies World Bank’s ICSID Convention
3-Nov-2013
Canada has confirmed its ratification of the World Bank’s ICSID Convention by depositing its “Instrument of Ratification” with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes on Nov. 1, 2013.
Pakistan seeks amendment in ICSID’s order
2-Nov-2013
Pakistan has landed in hot waters following the provisional decision of ICSID (international court for settlement of investment disputes) announced on October 16 which says that government of Pakistan should allow the Karkey’s vessel based power generation unit to move from Karachi port, as Supreme Court’s verdict is quite vivid that says that unless and until Karkey gives $ 128 million to Pakistan it cannot be allowed to leave the port, Pakistan Observer has learnt reliably.
South Africa draft PPIB (2013)
2-Nov-2013 tralac
Proposed legal framework to replace previous BITs
Why South Africa should send the Dutch government a letter in the next two weeks
31-Oct-2013
1st of November 2013 is an important date if one wants to get rid of this outdated treaty which poses growing risk to policy making in the public interest
We reject the offers made by the Argentine government to pay the ICSID claims
30-Oct-2013 ATTAC Argentina
ATTAC Argentina declare that we reject the offer made by the Argentine government to pay 500 million dollars to five transnational corporations that sued our country before the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
TTIP Update III
11-Oct-2013 Computerworld
Glyn Moody addresses the EU’s latest document "Incorrect claims about investor-state dispute settlement"
Arbitration panel rules for Chevron on Ecuador Amazon pollution case
20-Sep-2013 AP
Plaintiffs’ hopes for collecting a $19 billion judgment awarded by an Ecuadorean court against Chevron Corp. for oil contamination in the Amazon have suffered another potential setback.
Chevron wins major arbitration victory
19-Sep-2013 CNN
In an apparent coup for the oil giant’s efforts to undermine a $19 billion environmental judgment in Ecuador, an international tribunal has suggested that the Ecuadorians’ claims in that case were all settled and extinguished in 1995
Inversiones, transnacionales y desarrollo: el caso de Uruguay
6-Sep-2013 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
El contexto actual, pasados ocho años de gobierno del Frente Amplio en Uruguay, es particularmente propicio para reflexionar acerca de las diversas condicionantes para la aplicación de estrategias de desarrollo económico, productivo y social.