Live-Blogging the UNCTAD Conference
There are some interesting comments in the live blog of the UNCTAD International Investment Agreements Conference from the likes of Todd Weiler, Susan Franck, and Jason Yackee. (You can also watch the proceedings here). Much substance in the coverage, but also some fun. Here’s a taste:
Todd Weiler:
As I see Prof Franck is performing the live blog function, I will take the guerrilla blogger role…. Guerrillas strike and retreat. They don’t stand and defend (at least not with this kind of word count limit!).
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Todd Weiler:
One of the minor ways in which it might be said that China is still a developing country can be seen in men’s washrooms… It reeks of the surreptitious adventures of desper [...]
Israel’s Settlement of UN Claim Involving Gaza
International claims settlement involves a number of challenges that are relevant for the international arbitration community, including fact-finding and burden of proof, principles of State responsibility, treaty interpretation and damages under international law. One recent development of note involves Israel’s recent settlement of a claim brought by the United Nations.
In July 2009, the United Nations submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel a claim for reimbursement for the losses that the United Nations sustained in a number of incidents that occurred during the Gaza conflict between December 2008 to January 19, 2009. As a result of discussions that took place betwee [...]
Can a State claim the status of “persistent objector” in investor-State arbitration?
The question of the existence of legal protection for foreign investors under customary international law has always been controversial. States have indeed entered into BITs precisely because of the lack of development of relevant custom rules in the field of international investment law. It is nonetheless largely agreed today that some rules of customary law have emerged. For instance, one such rule is the obligation for the host State of an investment to provide foreign investors with the “minimum standard of treatment”. Another is that the host State cannot expropriate a foreign investor’s investment unless four conditions are met: the taking must be for a public purpose, as provided by l [...]
Arbitral Jurisprudence in International Commercial Arbitration: The Case For A Systematic Publication Of Arbitral Awards In 10 Questions…
1. Is Arbitral Jurisprudence anything more than a myth?
2. How does persuasiveness of past awards operate?
3. Is Precedent the product of the intrinsic qualities of one or more particularly well-reasoned awards?
4. Why do arbitral awards need to be available?
5. Why is reliance on arbitral precedents not frequent?
6. Should all awards be published?
7. Should awards be published with the names of the arbitrators?
8. How could a mass publication of complete, unabridged awards be achieved?
9. Is confidentiality a valid objection to the publication of arbitration awards?
10. Is there really an overriding principle of confidentiality?
1. Is Arbitral Jurisprudence anything more than a [...]
The Gold Standard of Transparency
By now almost everyone in the international arbitration world is aware of the gavel-to-gavel coverage of the oral pleadings in the so-called Abyei Arbitration before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The case included many of the leading lights of international arbitration, including Pierre-Marie Dupuy, Stephen Schwebel, and Michael Reisman among the arbitrators, and James Crawford, Alain Pellet, Paul Williams, and Gary Born among the counsel.
By any measure, the arbitration is a watershed in that it represents one of the most transparent examples of international arbitration in history. All of the pleadings, the entire transcript, and the complete oral hearings are all available on the [...]
