Tribunal reject first ICSID claim brought against Norway
Essex Court Chambers | 11 January 2024
Tribunal reject first ICSID claim brought against Norway
The Kingdom of Norway has successfully defended the first known investor-State claim brought against it. Peteris Pildegovics and SIA North Star, Latvian claimants, argued that Norway had violated the BIT between Latvia and Norway in relation to alleged investments of the claimants in snow crab harvesting licenses and harvesting vessels, among others. The claimants also argued among other things that Norway colluded with Russia in preventing them from accessing snow crab harvesting in the ‘Loophole’ area of the Barents Sea, and that Norway violated the international Svalbard Treaty of 1920. The Tribunal rejected all of the claimants’ arguments. The decision is likely to have wider ramifications, including on the territoriality requirement within BITs, the Monetary Gold principle and the resolution of investor-State claims in the context of wider inter-State disputes.
The Kingdom of Norway was represented by Vaughan Lowe KC and Mubarak Waseem, as well as Alain Pellet (University Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense) and Ysam Soualhi (University of Angers).
The redacted copy of the award is available here.
The GAR report on the decision can be found here and the IA Reporter article can be found here.
