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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.

Lithuania and Veolia reach €38m settlement to end decade-long legal disputes
18-Jul-2025 LRT
Lithuania and French energy group Veolia have reached a €35 million settlement that ends most of their decade-long legal disputes over municipal heating contracts, the Lithuanian Energy Ministry announced .
South Korea wins UK appeal over arbitration ruling in Samsung merger case
18-Jul-2025 Reuters
South Korea won its latest appeal in its dispute with US hedge fund Elliott over the 2015 merger of two affiliates of Samsung, shortly after the electronics group’s Chairman Jay Y. Lee was cleared by South Korea’s top court.
EU refers Hungary to the highest court
18-Jul-2025 Kosova Press
The European Commission has referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union for refusing to comply with a key European Union ruling on investor-state arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty.
New Zealand confirms opposition to ISDS in RCEP
18-Jul-2025 AFTINET
New Zealand has firmly opposed including Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, which covers 15 Asia-Pacific countries.
French investment protection agreements: an obstacle to the ecological transition
17-Jul-2025 Veblen Institute
Study on the French network of bilateral investment treaties.
Update on status of notice of termination of mining leases
16-Jul-2025 Blue Gold
Ghana terminated FGRBPL’s mining leases in 2024, prompting BGHL to challenge the decision under the UK-Ghana BIT via arbitration in 2025. If unsuccessful, BGHL risks losing its leases and mining plans. The outcome remains uncertain.
Costa Rica is facing a multi-million dollar lawsuit for protecting its environment and its communities - and following the law
16-Jul-2025 Linkedin
A Canadian company is threatening private arbitration under the Canada–Costa Rica investment treaty, claiming Costa Rica violated the treaty by halting a landfill project in Turrúcares, even as the proper domestic legal process is unfolding.
Supporting Honduran communities affected by corporate assault on Honduras: New data reveals gravity of ISDS claims against Honduras
15-Jul-2025 Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)
From July 14 to 16, the following meeting will be held in Honduras: Without Human Rights, There Is No Energy Sovereignty: A meeting of communities affected by energy projects in southern Honduras, a country facing an avalanche of international arbitration claims in secretive corporate courts, more than a third of which come from the renewable energy sector.
Trade tools for climate action: investor-state dispute settlement reform
10-Jul-2025 Council of Foreign Relations
Although fossil fuel phase-outs are critical to achieving global climate goals, protections granted through Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions to foreign-owned coal operations expose governments to costly litigation, threatening to thwart state action.
Malaysian civil society groups urge government to reject investor-state dispute settlement clause in RCEP deal
9-Jul-2025 The Edge Malaysia
Malaysian CSOs have urged the government to reject the inclusion of the ISDS clause in the RCEP agreement. They warn that ISDS allows foreign investors to sue governments over policies safeguarding public interests like health, workers, and the environment, potentially leading to costly legal battles and large payouts detrimental to national budgets.
Active negotiations on with over dozen countries for finalising BIT: Official
7-Jul-2025 NDTV
India is actively negotiating bilateral investment treaties with over a dozen countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Oman, European Union, Switzerland, Russia, and Australia, a government official said.
Civil society groups say there is now even more reason to keep ISDS out of the RCEP
7-Jul-2025 bilaterals.org
Civil society organisations from the 15 member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), call upon RCEP governments to continue to exclude Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) from the RCEP.
Croatia loses dispute, must pay 17,5 million euros to Societe Generale
4-Jul-2025 Sloboden Pecat
Croatia has lost the multi-year arbitration dispute that the French bank Societe Generale was leading against it before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington.
Lupaka wins ICSID dispute against Peru over gold project
3-Jul-2025 Mining Weekly
The dispute arose under the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Peru and concerned Lupaka’s investment in the Invicta gold project, located in the Andean highlands of Peru.
The Republic of Armenia is put on notice of investment dispute for its actions against Samvel Karapetyan and Electrical Networks of Armenia
2-Jul-2025 Tert.am
Samvel Karapetyan, a prominent businessman and a founder of Tashir Group, one of the largest group of companies in Eastern Europe, together with his family, sent a notice of investment dispute to the state officials of the Republic of Armenia.
Aftershock in Groningen
2-Jul-2025 SOMO
How Shell and ExxonMobil use arbitration to offload the costs of closing the Netherlands’ largest gas field.
Bahrain ratifies Bilateral Investment Treaty with UAE
1-Jul-2025 Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
Key features include the exclusion of concessions for natural resources from its protection remit, the inclusion of sovereign wealth funds as "Investors" and a denial of benefits clause.
Russia, Myanmar sign agreement on promotion, mutual protection of investments
23-Jun-2025 Interfax
Russia and Myanmar have concluded an agreement on the promotion and mutual protection of investments.
Franco Nevada releases Cobre Panama arbitration update
20-Jun-2025 Resource World
Following an engagement with the government of Panama’s legal counsel, Franco Nevada said it has agreed to suspend its arbitration proceeding.
A closer look at the India-Uzbekistan BIT 2024: Key provisions and implications
20-Jun-2025 Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
The treaty is a prime illustration of India’s post-2016 BIT policy in action and follows India’s Model BIT closely.