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Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Review of Developments in 2014
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.
UNCTAD releases review of trends in investment agreements and investor-State dispute settlement
​In 2014, countries concluded one international investment agreement every other week. Investors continue to use investor-State dispute settlement, but the number of new cases does not reach the record high of previous years.
The increasing appeal and novel use of bilateral investment treaties
State measures that reduce or nullify existing creditor rights, such as the Argentine “Lock Law” or similar moratoria on repayment, may violate BIT rights and supply investors and creditors in other jurisdictions, particularly in the eurozone, with a basis for challenging similar measures.
EU agrees rules to manage investor-state disputes
The European Union today took an important step towards creating a comprehensive EU investment policy, with the publication of a Regulation setting out a new set of rules to manage disputes under the EU’s investment agreements with its trading partners.
The era of mega-arbitration: International court rules against Russia in $50 billion decision
On 28 July 2014, an international arbitration tribunal announced that Russia must pay $50.02 billion in damages to former shareholders of the now defunct oil giant, Yukos Oil Company. Analysis by Kavaljit Singh.
CETA Investor-State Dispute Settlement process “anti-democratic, unnecessary and unfair,” says NFU
The National Farmers Union is among the labour, environmental, Indigenous, women’s, academic, health sector and fair trade organizations representing over 65 million people from both sides of the Atlantic that have signed a joint statement demanding that Canada and the EU stop negotiating an excessive and controversial investor rights chapter in the proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Investment terror
Since the 1990s developing nations have been on a treaty spree, signing a vast number of bilateral and regional investment treaties to attract funds for development. But as the figure of investment treaties has shot up so have the claims for damages from investor companies, which are seeking billions of dollars in compensation on account of regulatory laws.