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.
6-May-2015
EurAsia Review
From an international policy point of view, South Africa’s denunciation of BITs is reasonable. It may even be seen as a refreshing retreat from a legal quagmire. But the domestic reality requires wider consideration.
6-May-2015
Macleans
Mission accomplished? Not quite. American negotiations with Europe may trigger more changes to CETA
6-May-2015
Korea Times
V.V. Veeder, a British national, has been appointed as the presiding arbitrator for a $4.7 billion international litigation between the Korean government and Dallas-based Lone Star Funds, sources said Tuesday.
6-May-2015
Social Sciences Research Network
The European Commission’s most recent proposal for ISDS reflects a move away from fake reforms to something potentially more meaningful, but it is insufficient and unreliable, says legal expert Gus Van Harten.
6-May-2015
The Guardian
Alfred de Zayas said the UN will publish a report in August to illustrate the flaws in current plans for the TTIP.
5-May-2015
Reuters
The EU’s trade chief proposed on Tuesday creating a new European court to settle disputes in international trade agreements, a step aimed at overcoming growing public resistance to a free-trade accord with the United States.
4-May-2015
Korea Herald
A former top financial official who advocated for Korea Exchange Bank’s breakaway from Lone Star has taken up a position in a law firm that represents the US buyout firm at a time when the firm is suing the Korean government for $4.6 billion in an investor-state dispute.
4-May-2015
Korea Herald
The Dutch company will file an ISDS application against the Korean government, should the authorities refuse to pay 183.5 billion won ($169.9 million) in tax refund.
4-May-2015
RT
A group of radical performance activists who hail from New York staged an “exorcism” of corporate power outside an international law firm in London to raise awareness about the dangers of an EU-US trade deal being brokered behind closed doors.
29-Apr-2015
City Limits
"We cannot tell President Obama what to do. [But] our hard fought victories for protecting the lives of all New Yorkers will be at risk if he signs the TPP."
28-Apr-2015
Washington Post
Obama leans hard into the idea that TPP’s ISDS will be drawn explicitly to prevent corporate gaming of the litigation process
24-Apr-2015
EurActiv
Shrouded with secrecy and posing a threat to public services, Owen Tudor tells EurActiv why the UK Trade Union Congress doesn’t believe the hype over TTIP, and why exploitation, rather than immigration, should be the cause of people’s concerns.
24-Apr-2015
Reuters
Secret negotiations on international trade deals threaten human rights, an independent United Nations expert said on Thursday in comments that appeared aimed at agreements the United States is seeking with the European Union and Pacific nations.
23-Apr-2015
PINA
This is the leaked draft chapter on Investment text from the PACER Plus Intersessional meeting in Auckland, 26-28 November 2013.
23-Apr-2015
Lexology
The ICFAs open a door to arbitration, providing an alternative to the local courts, but State-to-State, not investor-State.
21-Apr-2015
EurActiv
Half of the European Parliament’s committees have rejected the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership’s investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, casting doubt over the trade deal’s prospects of to passing through Parliament.
15-Apr-2015
ITUC
The International Trade Union Confederation calls on the government of El Salvador to denounce all treaties establishing ISDS proceedings.
15-Apr-2015
Equal Times
The Central American state of El Salvador could be forced to pay US$301 million in damages to an Australian-Canadian mining company, OceanaGold, after the company’s application for a mining license was rejected on the basis of the projected environmental damage it would cause.
15-Apr-2015
South China Morning Post
In terms of international transactions, FDI is more important than trade but it is subject to global policy disarray.
14-Apr-2015
TNI
In response to growing public criticism of international investment law, a new lobby group has emerged, EFILA, seeking to influence European officials.
