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ISDS reform

The Covid-19 pandemic and liability under investment treaties
11-Aug-2020 South Centre
COVID-19 can increase liability for countries under international investment treaties. Developing countries face imminent challenges under such treaties.
Nigeria begins reforms of international investment agreements
10-Aug-2020 Leadership
Nigeria is undertaking series of reforms of the country’s bilateral investment treaties to attract responsible, inclusive, balanced and sustainable investments.
Investor-state dispute settlement in Africa and the AfCFTA Investment Protocol
8-Jul-2020 Tralac
With the growing concern over the traditional ISDS system, it is highly unlikely that the AfCFTA will include an ISDS mechanism giving investors access to go to international arbitration under conventional international tribunals.
PAW2020: The future of ISDS in Africa
8-Jul-2020 African Law Blog
African states need to take a unified and proactive approach to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), in order to make a system that is fairer to Africa and more consistent.
Revisiting BITs in the wake of Covid-19
7-Jul-2020 Financial Express Bangladesh
Amidst the global risk of ISDS claims, it is incumbent to shed light on Bangladesh’s BIT structure and its feasibility to confront ISDS claims in the backdrop of Covid-19 regulatory space.
Morocco’s new model BIT: Innovative features and policy considerations
1-Jul-2020 IISD
In the face of the increasing number of claims brought by investors against host states on the basis of BITs and the exorbitant amounts awarded to investors, Morocco has undertaken a review of its model BIT using a flexible and rational approach.
EU Commission launches public consultation on protection of intra-EU investment
9-Jun-2020
The EU Commission has launched a public consultation calling for comments on its initiative to improve the protection of intra-EU investment. This initiative could lead to the adoption of new rules enhancing investors’ rights vis-à-vis EU Member States and to the creation of new enforcement mechanisms for investors within the EU.
EU plans to reform Energy Charter Treaty falling short, activists say
30-Apr-2020 Euractiv
An updated European Commission proposal to reform the Energy Charter Treaty is falling short of what’s needed to reinstate governments’ “right to regulate” in areas like climate change, activists say.
Brazil India investment cooperation and facilitation treaty (2020)
10-Apr-2020 Modern Diplomacy
This is Brazil’s 10th and India’s 4th bilateral investment agreement since both nations had adopted their Model Bilateral Investment Treaty.
Appeal in ISDS: Appealing for the host state?
28-Feb-2020 South Centre
The basis of a claim in ISDS is always the applicable international investment agreement. There would always be differences and inconsistencies with an appellate mechanism.
Letter from Africa CSOs and trade unions to African delegates at the UNCITRAL round
31-Jan-2020
We civil society organizations and trade unions from the African continent express our concerns about the proposal presented by the European Union to establish a multilateral investment court and support further reaching reforms of ISDS.
ISDS reform: Designing permanent institutions at Working Group III
27-Jan-2020 IELP
The UNCITRAL Working Group III turned squarely to designing permanent institutions: a standing appellate mechanism and a multilateral investment court (MIC).
The US drops ISDS
27-Jan-2020 The Globalist
The US government used to be the chief proponent of strong investor protection clauses in international trade deals. No longer. What happened?
UNCITRAL Working Group III: Promoting alternatives to investor–state arbitration as ISDS reform
14-Oct-2019 IISD
Several states participating in the UNCITRAL process have already adopted viable alternatives to ISDS.
Commission presents procedural proposals for the Investment Court System in CETA
14-Oct-2019 European Commission
The European Commission today presented to the Council four proposals for specific rules putting in place the Investment Court System provisions in the EU-Canada trade deal.
UN warned corporate courts could thwart climate efforts
24-Jul-2019 Climate Home News
Campaigners are urging reform of an obscure system that allows coal, oil and gas companies to sue governments if climate policies hit their profits.
UN reform needed to stop companies fighting climate rules: Nobel laureate Stiglitz
29-May-2019 Reuters
Multinational companies will increasingly file massive cases against host countries when climate change policies affect their profits, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said.
Compatibility with EU law is not real issue with ISDS
30-Apr-2019 EU Observer
But legality should not be our main concern here. There are much better approaches to international investment and we should be considering them.
We the people reject ISDS. So why are our governments trying to expand it?
9-Apr-2019 Stop ISDS
A permanent Multilateral Investment Court pushed by the European Union could make ISDS worse by scaling it up.
As the world meets to discuss ISDS, many fear meaningless reforms
8-Apr-2019 TNI
ISDS lawyers appear to hold administrative positions within the working group and are represented in large numbers in the advisory bodies that have been established for the working group.