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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.

War, neoliberal fundamentalism and the plundering of national economies
7-Oct-2014 Global Research
The real threats to ‘freedom’, ‘democracy’, ‘decency’ and ‘fairness’ do not lie in Syria or Iraq. The destruction of national sovereignty, democracy, freedom, decency, quality of life and livelihoods is being carried out by corporate vultures under the guise of the secular theology of neoliberalism, not least in practice via free trade and investor rights agreements.
The trade clause that overrules governments
6-Oct-2014 Washington Post
The Obama administration’s insistence on ISDS may please Wall Street, but it threatens to undermine some of the president’s landmark achievements in curbing pollution and fighting global warming.
Make no mistake, the TTIP is a move in the wrong direction
6-Oct-2014 The Conversation
While it would be wrong to say that the TTIP will lead to the wholesale privatisation of public services, it would potentially constrain governments’ ability to reverse past policy decisions to open up public services to competition as this would become a treaty-based commitment.
Washington court rules in Hungary’s favor in cancelled casino investment case
3-Oct-2014 Politics.hu
An ICSID arbitration panel rules in favour of Hungary against US/Israeli investors seeking €300 million in compensation for a failed casino project.
New report takes on Obama administration defense of ISDS
2-Oct-2014 Public Citizen
The Obama administration’s precarious justifications for the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) regime may determine the fate of the transatlantic free trade agreement, said Public Citizen.
Opposing sides on investor question face off at US-EU trade talks
2-Oct-2014 dpa
Groups opposed to a clause of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that they say is overly favorable to investors took their complaints to negotiators Wednesday outside Washington.
Six steps to protect Canadians from flaws in China trade deal
1-Oct-2014 The Tyee
Trade treaty expert Van Harten lays out ways FIPA governments can ’disclose, monitor, and limit the harm done by this treaty.’
UNASUR dispute settlement centre will start operating in 2015
30-Sep-2014 El Telégrafo
Next year, the South American Union of Nations (UNASUR) dispute settlement centre will start operating, announced the UNASUR Secretary General
Battle Royal in Brussels - backroom ’trade’ deals under fire
29-Sep-2014 Open Democracy
Europeans are in uproar at chaotic attempts by the EU presidency to rush through ’secret courts’ for investors to sue governments who try to protect their citizens and public services.
Occupy democracy: 17-26 Oct - NO TTIP
28-Sep-2014 Occupy London TV
Occupy Democracy is organising a time limited occupation from the 17th - 26th October to debate the flaws in the UK’s democracy, such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
UNASUR representatives analyse the Agreement Establishing the Centre for Investment Dispute Settlement 
25-Sep-2014 Gobierno del Ecuador
The 11th meeting of the UNASUR Working group of highly qualified experts on investment dispute settlement took place in Quito from 23-26 September at the Ministry for External Affairs and Human Mobility.
Assessing regulatory impact of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – analysis
23-Sep-2014 Eurasia Review
This study considers the likely regulatory impact of the proposed EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in three key policy areas: investor protection, public services and food safety.
Gold Reserve says awarded $740.3 mln in Venezuela Brisas arbitration
23-Sep-2014 Reuters
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) determined Venezuela must pay US-based miner Gold Reserve $740.3 million for terminating its Las Brisas gold concession, the company said on Monday.
The international implications of the Philip Morris branding battle in Uruguay
20-Sep-2014 World Trademark Review
Long-running litigation between Uruguay, which has some of the toughest anti-smoking laws in the world, and cigarette giant Philip Morris could have direct consequences for plain packaging legislation globally. Could it also pave the way for legal action in Europe?
Questions linger over controversial Canada-China trade deal
19-Sep-2014 Epoch Times
Canada’s Conservative government is taking heat after Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet quietly ratified a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with China after sitting on it for two years during which it was strongly criticized and protested.
New treaty allows China to sue Canada to change its laws
16-Sep-2014 Newsweek
Despite public outcry, Stephen Harper, Canada’s prime minister, ratified a controversial treaty on Friday that will allow China to sue Canada in secret tribunals to repeal Canadian laws that interfere with Chinese investments.
Strategy conversations: From protest to proposal – Launch of alternative proposal to the global investment regime
14-Sep-2014 NJGI
‘A Call for the Building of an Alternative Legal Framework to the International Investment Treaties. Favoring the Public Interest while doing away with Transnational Corporate Impunity.’
ISDS: The devil in the trade deal
14-Sep-2014 ABC
A common provision allowing foreign investors to sue host governments has become a ticking time bomb inside trade agreements. Some countries are now refusing to agree to the provision and are questioning its legal legitimacy. Jess Hill investigates.
How Greens in one German state threaten Euro-Canada trade deal
12-Sep-2014 The Tyee
The survival of the new trade deal hammered out in secret between Canada and the European Union is threatened by opposed Green politicians in Germany’s most populated state, writes Andrea Rexer.
Ask Foreign Policy Ministers to exempt ISDS from CETA open letter
10-Sep-2014 EarthMedia
Please find below a draft letter to heads of state or trade ministers of EU Member States. It can be sent ahead of the Sept .12 meeting of the EU Trade Policy Committee where Member States have the *final* opportunity to comment on the CETA text.