Following the flurry of arbitrations initiated by investors against Argentina based upon Argentine government actions during that country’s 2001-2002 economic crisis, one might have expected the U.S. government’s extensive market interventions during the 2008 global financial crisis to lead similarly to investor claims. The United States bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in [...] read more »
Archive for the 'Investment Arbitration' Category
Confidentiality in Investment Treaty Arbitration
Procedural Order No. 3 (Confidentiality Order) dated 27 January 2010 in Giovanna a Beccara and others v. The Argentine Republic (the “Order”) addresses the competing considerations of confidentiality, transparency, public information, equality of the Parties’ rights, and orderly conduct of the proceedings in investment treaty arbitration. Although the Tribunal’s Order provides a nuanced approach to [...] read more »
BITs, Freedom of Expression, and the Impertinence of Aliens
I recently gave a talk at a Sydney Law School conference about the unexplored relationship between bilateral investment treaties and freedom of expression.
In a longer paper on BITs and human rights published last year I’d highlighted some potential tensions, including the need for states to balance the rights of citizens to speak and protest – [...] read more »
Pre-contractual liability- Another look needed: F-W Oil Interests, Inc. v. Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, ICSID Case No. ARB/01/14
It is not easy to get a grip on the vast amount of case-law being churned out by investment treaty arbitration panels. However, if law students wanted examples of the ultimate slap-dash arguments being put together by claimant lawyers, then go no further than to sample some of arguments launched in this case. It is [...] read more »
Ecuador Moves to Stay Arbitration Brought by Chevron
I am in Australia in advance of the investment law conference at Sydney Law School at the end of the week, and I took advantage of many plane hours to read the docket in the case pending between Ecuador and Chevron/Texaco Petroleum Company (TexPet) in the Southern District of New York. They repay [...] read more »
Statistics on ICSID Cases
ICSID has just published a report on its caseload, and there is plenty of interesting data. The one that particularly caught my attention is the chart on the basis of consent invoked to establish ICSID jurisdiction. Sixty-two percent of all cases came from Bilateral Investment Treaties, while twenty-two percent came from investment contracts. [...] read more »
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