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.
13-May-2015
UNCTAD
According to UNCTAD, 40% of all new ISDS cases in 2014 were initiated against developed countries (the historical average is 28%). A quarter of them are intra-EU disputes.
12-May-2015
Mining Watch
In anticipation of an imminent ruling from a little-known arbitration tribunal at the World Bank that could force El Salvador to pay Canadian-Australian mining firm OceanaGold US$301 million, a Salvadoran delegation is visiting Canada to discuss how investor-state arbitration threatens democratic decision-making, public health and the environment here and beyond our borders.
11-May-2015
Press TV
The United States has rejected a European Union proposal to establish a global investment court aimed at resolving disputes arising from a massive free trade treaty with the US.
11-May-2015
Zawya
Foreign investment is crucial for reviving Egypt’s economy, but a new report reveals it can come at a considerable cost, writes Stefan Weichert
7-May-2015
The Parliament Magazine
MEPs have threatened to block TTIP if ISDS is included, despite revised plans presented to them by European trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström.
7-May-2015
EurActiv
European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström tried to convince MEPs that there are ways to keep the Investment-State Dispute Settlement in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership deal. But unimpressed lawmakers failed to greet it as a full-fledged reform.
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.
