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.
12-Jun-2024
Inside Climate News
Investor-state dispute settlement allows foreign investors to sue governments for billions. A new report highlights this international legal system harms Indigenous Latin Americans.
12-Jun-2024
Almaden Minerals Ltd.
Almaden Minerals Ltd. has taken the decision to submit its claims to arbitration against the United Mexican States under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
11-Jun-2024
Public Citizen
How Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) harms indigenous communities.
11-Jun-2024
Counter Punch
There is an obscure mechanism by which fossil fuel companies maintain their global domination even as their products are destroying our futures.
11-Jun-2024
Common Dreams
"ISDS is the secret weapon for fossil fuel companies against climate laws," said one advocate.
10-Jun-2024
Mining.com
The World Bank’s ICSID ruled in favour of Colombia in a feud with Canada’s Montauk Metals after finding that the mining ban imposed by the Gustavo Petro administration on the Santurbán moor does not violate the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement signed in 2008.
6-Jun-2024
The Guardian
More than $100bn of public money has been awarded to private investors in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) courts, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet.
3-Jun-2024
CCSI
International Investment and Trade Law should be reformed for climate-aligned investment governance.
3-Jun-2024
Sierra Club
Report urges elimination of ISDS Provisions, calls for stronger trade policies to protect climate.
31-May-2024
CAN Europe
The Council of the EU adopted a historic decision to withdraw the European Union from the Energy Charter Treaty, an international investment treaty from the 1990s increasingly used by the fossil fuel industry to sue governments over their climate and energy policies.
31-May-2024
Club of Mozambique
African commodities house ETG has warned Mozambique that it will seek international arbitration in a dispute over the seizure of up to US$60 million’s worth of goods.
29-May-2024
Reuters
Australian mining group Berkeley Energia filed a request for an arbitration to seek $1 billion in damages from the Spanish government after it refused to give final approval for its uranium mine project.
27-May-2024
MercoPress
Chilean and Canadian partners of the Montecon consortium handling operations in the port of Montevideo have started an arbitration process for “damages and losses” worth up to US$ 600 million against the Uruguayan State.
27-May-2024
Romania-Insider
Eurohold Bulgaria AD and Euroins Insurance Group AD said they have officially filed a request for arbitration against the government of Romania at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, DC.
23-May-2024
In-Cyprus
The World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal unanimously rejected a USD 600 million claim by depositors and bondholders of Laiki Bank and the Bank of Cyprus.
20-May-2024
Mining.com
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled in favour of Peru in a decade-long dispute with gold dealer Kaloti Metals & Logistics, LLC.
10-May-2024
Hindustan Times
Several non-European Union states are keen on finalising bilateral investment treaties with India to boost the potential for investments and to address concerns of investors on matters such as dispute resolution.
10-May-2024
The Conversation
Foreign investors wanting to protect their gains under the controversial new law could hold the country to ransom by threatening a dispute. As a result, they would constrain New Zealand’s democratic ability to exercise its sovereignty, and to protect te Tiriti rights.
8-May-2024
PSI
After a decade long struggle by PSI and affiliates against trade rules that put corporate profits before people, victory is in sight!
6-May-2024
Jacobin
Companies have long used international treaties to try to prevent Global South countries from asserting economic sovereignty. In recent decades, corporations have used such laws to stymie European governments’ attempts to tackle the climate crisis.
