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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.

Corporations are ready to cash in on Venezuela
7-Jan-2026 Jacobin
Before Donald Trump’s capture of Nicolás Maduro, corporations filed lawsuits against Venezuela seeking damages tied to state nationalization, international sanctions, and political instability. A Trump-installed government could tilt the courts in their favor.
Halliburton files ISDS suit against Venezuela for damages resulting from… US sanctions on Venezuela
7-Jan-2026 Naked Capitalism
The US oilfield services company Halliburton quietly filed a suit against Venezuela at the World Bank’s international arbitration court, ICSID.
Academic open letter on ISDS and UK climate policy
22-Dec-2025 Trade Justice Movement
A group of 56 UK-affiliated academics has written to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband MP, warning that Investor-State Dispute Settlement poses a serious risk to the UK’s ability to take effective climate action.
ISDS tribunal publishes decision in first Clive Palmer ISDS case more than a year after hearings
17-Dec-2025 AFTINET
The tribunal in the first Clive Palmer ISDS case, which claimed $300 billion from the Australian government, has published its decision 10 weeks after it was announced by the government and more than a year after the original hearings.
NAFTA legacy case dropped
15-Dec-2025 CCPA
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes has declined jurisdiction over a NAFTA legacy claim filed under CUSMA’s legacy annex by Access Business Group (Amway) against Mexico and ordered the claimant to pay $1.3M USD.
Latest twist in Chevron’s Amazon pollution saga: Ecuador ordered to pay the oil company $220 million
12-Dec-2025 Inside Climate News
Indigenous and other Ecuadorians have lived with millions of gallons of toxic pollution from Texaco’s operations for decades. Now, those victims’ tax dollars will go to Chevron, which acquired Texaco in 2001. celebre su derrota.
OIC nations’ need for fairer investor-state dispute reforms
10-Dec-2025 The Express Tribune
UN prepares for key ISDS reforms, OIC countries strive for balance between investor protection and sovereignty.
Frozen assets, hot claims: How Russian oligarchs and other investors sue over sanctions
9-Dec-2025 European Trade Justice Coalition
Economic sanctions against Russia are now being challenged by Russian oligarchs and companies in private tribunals using a mechanism written into investment treaties.
Japanese investors sue Switzerland over Credit Suisse’s AT1 write-down, law firm says
4-Dec-2025 Reuters
The 184 investors filed an arbitration request with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, claiming Switzerland violated a free trade agreement with Japan when wiping out the bonds in March 2023.
New China-Russia bilateral investment agreement takes effect: MOFCOM
2-Dec-2025 Global Times
The new Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments formally came into effect.
Hello, foreign oligarchs and corporations! Please come and sue the UK for billions
1-Dec-2025 The Guardian
The case of a planned Cumbrian coalmine shows how governments around the world are being threatened by litigation in shadowy offshore courts
Kingsgate announces settlement of dispute with Thai government, ending ‘Akara Gold Mine’ case
28-Nov-2025 The Nation
Kingsgate ends 8-year dispute with the Thai government over Akara Gold Mine. Arbitration process now concluding, with future business operations in Thailand in focus.
US-backed housing scandals threaten to rip off Honduras and Panama
26-Nov-2025 Foreign Policy In Focus
Miami-based investors are suing Honduras after their own false promises left families picking up the pieces.
ISDS overview: how corporate courts threaten climate action and democracy
26-Nov-2025 Trade Justice Movement
The resource contains visual summaries to help break down the controversial Investor–State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism built into many trade and investment agreements.
ISDS exposed as a barrier to climate action and Australia to chair but not host 2026 climate negotiations
26-Nov-2025 AFTINET
As the UN climate conference began in Belem, Brazil last week, an official UN report explicitly called out Investor-State Dispute Settlement in trade agreements as a systemic barrier to financing climate action in developing countries.
COP30 shows why dismantling ISDS is essential for real climate action
26-Nov-2025 Both Ends
COP30 showed once again that climate policy cannot succeed while outdated investment treaties give corporations the power to punish ambition.
Korea asks Lone Star to reimburse legal costs after winning annulment in investor dispute
25-Nov-2025 The Korea Times
The justice ministry has sent a letter to Lone Star requesting the private equity fund to reimburse legal costs incurred during an investor-state dispute settlement over the 2012 sale of a local bank.
Between national engine and corporate plunder: the drift of Argentina´s Fiscal Oilfields YPF
24-Nov-2025 ISDS impacts
The YPF case exposes the inconsistencies of the international investment protection system, which enables large corporations to engage in predatory practices, creating severe macroeconomic problems for Argentina.
NGOs call on Government to leave Energy Charter Treaty as new claim emerges
21-Nov-2025 Leah Sullivan
Civil society groups are calling on the Government to leave the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and reject ISDS, as a new threat emerges over the government’s refusal to grant an exploration licence to an oil and gas company.
Lone Star rejects ICSID annulment, eyes new arbitration
21-Nov-2025 The Korea Times
Lone Star said it does not accept this week’s annulment ruling by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, signaling that it could pursue a new round of arbitration against the Korean government.