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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.

Australian company sues El Salvador for its right to pillage
3-Nov-2014 Green Left Weekly
Australian-based company OceanaGold is suing El Salvador for US$301 million for its “right” to continue operating a gold mine that is destroying the Central American nation’s water supply.
Legacy: De Gucht negotiated two rigged ISDS chapters
3-Nov-2014 Vrijschrift
On 15 September Vrijschrift informed the European Parliament international trade committee that investor-to-state arbitration (ISDS) in the draft trade agreement with Canada is rigged to the advantage of the US. Today Vrijschrift informed the committee the same is true for the draft trade agreement with Singapore.
Iran wins its first investor-state case
29-Oct-2014 Lexology
The Islamic Republic of Iran has won its first ever investor-state arbitration in a decision against Turkish mobile phone company, Turkcell.
The Micula case: When ISDS messes with EU law
28-Oct-2014 BEUC
This case illustrates the risk that a Member State can be successfully sued by a company within ISDS for merely bringing its legislation or policies in line with EU legislation.
Singapore concerned by ISDS debate, asks investment be “decoupled” from EU deal
28-Oct-2014 EU Trade Insights
As the debate in Europe over investors’ rights to sue States is growing, Singapore has been asking the European Commission to agree to a decoupling of the bilateral trade agreement as the country is concerned the investment protection part of the deal could hold up the entire pact.
Member states warn Juncker against ISDS concessions
23-Oct-2014 European Voice
As Juncker gives reassurances to the European Parliament over free trade with the US, 14 member states are urging him to stick to the script.
US floats cutting tobacco from part of Pacific trade pact -sources
22-Oct-2014 Reuters
The United States has floated excluding tobacco products from a key section of a 12-nation Pacific trade deal and signaled it may present a formal proposal to trading partners at talks in Australia.
Big Tobacco puts Uruguay on trial
22-Oct-2014 Central Telegraph
Uruguay files its defence against Philip Morris, a test case for big business lawsuits that could hit the EU through the transatlantic trade and investment deal with the US.
Trans-Pacific Partnership piles up challenges for democracy
21-Oct-2014 The Conversation
The US is again driving the TPP agenda on behalf of its major export industries, but the TPP proposals are more extreme than the Australia-US FTA, writes Pat Ranald.
EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht warns ’no TTIP without ISDS’
17-Oct-2014 IBT
The European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht has warned that there will be no free trade agreement between the EU and US without the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clause.
Indonesia challenges Australian cigarette packaging laws
16-Oct-2014 Wall Street Journal
Tobacco producers Indonesia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Ukraine are challenging Australia’s plain-packaging laws at the World Trade Organization, bolstering support for Philip Morris’ private dispute against Canberra.
EU-Singapore investment talks concluded, says EU Trade Chief
16-Oct-2014 EU Trade Insights
The European Union and Singapore have finally concluded negotiations over a bilateral investment agreement, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht has told EU Trade Insights in an exclusive interview.
Smoke screen: One industry carve-out won’t solve the problem of corporate courts
15-Oct-2014 AFL-CIO
According to recent reports, US trade negotiators for the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal are floating a proposal to prevent tobacco companies from using corporate courts to sue national governments over anti-smoking regulations.
ConocoPhillips files for arbitration against PDVSA for contractual compensation
12-Oct-2014
ConocoPhillips announced Friday that it has filed for arbitration under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce or ICC against Petroleos de Venezuela or PDVSA, the Venezuela state oil company, for contractual compensation related to the Petrozuata and Hamaca heavy crude oil projects.
Tobacco raises TPP concerns
11-Oct-2014 Politico
US trade officials have denied they plan to offer a new tobacco proposal in the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks in Australia later this month.
Why climate litigation could soon go global
11-Oct-2014 Globe and Mail
Climate change is already causing about $600-billion in damages annually, gobally. Oil and gas companies could soon find themselves on the hook for at least part of the damage.
The arbitration game
10-Oct-2014 Economist
Governments are souring on treaties to protect foreign investors
Venezuela ordered to pay Exxon $1.6 bln for nationalization
10-Oct-2014 Reuters
A World Bank arbitration tribunal on Thursday ordered Venezuela to pay Exxon Mobil Corp around $1.6 billion to compensate for the 2007 nationalization of its oil projects in the country.
Canada braces for EU trade pact dispute with Germany
8-Oct-2014 Bloomberg
Canada is bracing for a dispute with Germany over whether its newly-agreed free trade pact with the European Union should be re-opened to erase arbitration clauses.
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.