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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.

Argentina sued before New York court for debts related to the expropriation of Aerolineas Argentinas
27-Aug-2021 MercoPress
The investment fund Titan Consortium has taken legal steps after the expropriation of Aerolineas Argentinas in 2008, which resulted in an arbitration award against Argentina.
Problematising the relationship between mining, development and foreign investment in Colombia
26-Aug-2021 OpinioJuris
The new resource extraction regime continued to consolidate through the approval of new development plans, new standards, and the signing of international investment agreements.
Kazakhstan would ‘welcome’ new arbitration in Stati dispute
24-Aug-2021 Emerging Europe
Kazakhstan has welcomed what it calls an opportunity for an independent arbitral tribunal to carry out “a free and fair review of the Statis’ fraud”.
One big, expensive, avoidable reason why governments won’t take action on climate change
23-Aug-2021 Rabble.ca
As governments try to phase out coal and leave fossil fuels in the ground, lawsuits from industry investors are starting to pile up around them.
Death by a thousand treaties
20-Aug-2021 The Ecologist
Governments must urgently terminate all international investment treaties in force, in particular the Energy Charter Treaty, and stop negotiating new ones.
NGOs urge Slovenia’s minister to propose EU exit Energy Charter Treaty
19-Aug-2021 Euractiv
Slovenian environmental NGOs have called on infrastructure minister Jernej Vrtovec to use the country’s EU presidency to propose a political discussion on the bloc exiting the Energy Charter Treaty.
Blockading global Green New Deals
19-Aug-2021 The Ecologist
Tackling trade and investment agreements must be an essential step in achieving justice-oriented action on climate change, health inequities and economic injustice.
HSBC initiates legal proceedings against El Salvador claiming breach of treaty with UK
19-Aug-2021 Reuters
HSBC Holdings said the banking group has initiated legal proceedings against El Salvador for what the company called a breach of the nation’s investment treaty with the UK.
Russians warn of arbitration against South Africa
18-Aug-2021 IOL
RUSSIAN attorneys have warned they will institute international arbitration proceedings against South Africa for failing to protect their client Transasia Mineral’s investment after the company was allegedly defrauded of R458 million by a local businessman.
French airport investors make good on earlier threat to bring treaty-based claims against Chile in relation to reduced air traffic during the COVID pandemic
17-Aug-2021 IA Reporter
Two French airport companies, Aeroports de Paris (ADP) and Vinci Airports, have initiated treaty-based arbitration proceedings against Chile, invoking the Chile-France bilateral investment treaty (BIT).
Ethiopia wins major International Court case against Israeli firm ICL
15-Aug-2021 The Reporter
The Hague based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) passed its final judgment on Friday rejecting the Israel based mining company’s, Israel Chemical Limited (ICL) compensation claims filed against the government of Ethiopia.
Winshear seeks C$124,781,945 in damages from Tanzania
15-Aug-2021 Globe Newswire
Winshear Gold Corp. has filed a case at ICSID against Tanzania for the expropriation of the company’s retention licenses, claiming the country has breached its obligations under the Tanzania-Canada BIT.
The limits of sovereignty
13-Aug-2021 Dawn
Terminating 23 BITs is an important step for Pakistan, but if relationships with the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank remain, economic efficiency will continue to be prioritised over social justice and the rights of citizens.
Discovery legal challenge escalates Poland-US media row
13-Aug-2021 Bloomberg
Draft law, regulator pose risks to Discovery’s unit in Poland but Polish watchdog says treaty exempts broadcast investments.
Risks for Mexico in the renegotiation of its FTA with the European Union
11-Aug-2021 TNI
To end neoliberalism and defend energy resources, Mexico must step up and avoid at all costs the inclusion of supranational arbitration mechanisms in a renegotiated FTA with the European Union.
South’s concerns over ISDS reform process need to be addressed
10-Aug-2021 Third World Network
The broad mandate given by UNCITRAL focuses on a limited set of procedural issues that fails to address the substantive concerns over the crisis of legitimacy confronting the international investment regime, and ISDS more specifically.
The Irish Spanish Solar sues Spain in the ICSID for the cut in premiums to renewables
9-Aug-2021 Market Research Telecast
Spanish Solar demands compensation from the Spanish Government for having cut the premiums for the use of energy once the investments have been made.
Deep-sea salvage firm uses NAFTA to fight Mexican environmental rules
9-Aug-2021 The Maritime Executive
A lawsuit filed against the Mexican government for denying a permit for seabed mining has put a spotlight on the lack of international rules for such practices.
Protecting human and environmental rights in international investment agreements
9-Aug-2021 East Asia Forum
Human rights experts are particularly concerned about the asymmetric nature of the system and a lack of investors’ human rights obligations. Together with high ISDS costs and arbitral awards, they undermine states’ ability to realise economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.
XL pipeline absurd $15 billion NAFTA ISDS claim
7-Aug-2021 Public Citizen
TC Energy expects to get 15 times more money, coming from taxpayers’ pockets, than the asset losses it experienced from the revocation of a permit, that was already denied twice.