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.
14-May-2021
AKIpress
The government of Turkmenistan has won $500 million claim brought before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes by a Turkish construction company.
12-May-2021
Nairametrics
The inaugural meeting of the dispute settlement body of the AfCFTA signals the readiness of this infrastructure to take up any disputes that may arise in the course of trading amongst the member States.
12-May-2021
Reuters
US commodity trader Gerald Group will pay Sierra Leone $20 million and cede a 10% stake in an iron ore project as part of the resolution to a nearly two-year dispute that led to the shutdown of production.
10-May-2021
Reuters
America Movil said the World Bank’s ICSID tribunal has ruled against the company in its dispute with Colombia and ordered it to pay $2.2 million to cover the costs of the case.
10-May-2021
Nikkei Asia
The European Union and India agreed to resume stalled free-trade negotiations and seek closer cooperation to combat climate change at a virtual summit on Saturday.
27-Apr-2021
The Leaflet
The international economic law regime has stripped India of over $3.8 billion in taxes due by Vodafone and Cairn Energy, as the country is battling the Covid19 crisis.
26-Apr-2021
Dawn
Pakistan, which entered into its first BIT with Germany in 1959 — which also was the first BIT ever entered — has concluded 53 BITs with 48 countries.
23-Apr-2021
TRT
A Canadian mining company is suing Turkey for $1 billion at a secretive arbitration court over the cancellation of a mine project that was deemed disastrous for the environment.
23-Apr-2021
Inequality.org
Pakistan is the latest to start withdrawing from international treaties that give corporations the power to sue governments over environmental and public interest regulations.
22-Apr-2021
IIED
It’s time to reconsider investor-state dispute settlement; inaction risks rising costs of shifting from fossil fuels to green alternatives.
21-Apr-2021
Reuters
Miner Alamos Gold said its Netherlands units will file an investment treaty claim exceeding $1 billion against Turkey for "unfair and inequitable treatment" with its gold mining project.
20-Apr-2021
International Arbitration
One of the most significant early proposals for a multilateral agreement to protect private foreign investment was launched in 1957 by groups of European business people, and lawyers.
19-Apr-2021
Euractiv
German energy company Uniper has confirmed its intention to sue the Dutch government over the country’s planned coal phase-out.
19-Apr-2021
The Guardian
Energy conglomerates have recourse to special courts and legal regimes that they helped design – and they won’t go down without a fight.
16-Apr-2021
iPolitics
NAFTA-investor lawsuits have cost Canadian taxpayers more than $376 million over the last 25 years, and could cost even more in the years ahead.
15-Apr-2021
CCPA
The removal of investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) from the renegotiated NAFTA was a critical victory but Canada, the US and Mexico continue to be enmeshed in an extensive web of bilateral and regional accords containing ISDS.
14-Apr-2021
Stock Market Wire
Mining group Pathfinder Minerals said a dispute over the ownership of a mining title in Mozambique could see it incur estimated losses of more than $621.3 million.
12-Apr-2021
Business Standard
Cairn Energy has offered to invest the entire award money in India, which includes the principal amount of $1.2 billion and interest of $500 million if the government agrees to enforce the award.
9-Apr-2021
IISD
For many people affected by resource extraction, it is the prevailing legal regime that dis-embeds and disintegrates, because investment treaties can protect ventures that upend their lives with little scope for voice or redress.
8-Apr-2021
Investment Monitor
From colonisation to investor-state dispute settlements, rich countries have sought to exploit and influence their poorer counterparts for centuries, but how did globalisation in its current form come to be?