Article 25 of the ICSID Convention imposes a condition on natural persons that they cannot bring a claim against the host State if they possess the nationality of both the contracting States of the invoked treaty (dual nationals). This is an added qualification to the requirements for a qualified investor mentioned in the treaty. Therefore,…

In the case of Santamarta v Venezuela, the dispute involved a dual national of Venezuela and Spain, who filed a claim against Venezuela for allegedly obstructing Santamarta’s pharmaceutical business, including an unlawful confiscation of a manufacturing plant. The arbitration proceedings were conducted in accordance with the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules (1976) on the basis of the…

Following a fruitful 2020, 2021 also brought some noteworthy developments in France, that this post proposes to review on a general level. Overall, the Paris Court of Appeal (“the Court”) seems to have taken a slightly more exigent approach towards arbitration this year, while the Cour de cassation has overturned regrettable decisions. Admissibility and Waiver…

The issue of dual nationals’ access to investor-state dispute settlement (“ISDS”) has once again taken the center stage through the recently issued Carrizosa v. Colombia award. Resolved under the auspices of the 2013 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, the PCA tribunal unanimously dismissed the entire case for lack of jurisdiction ratione personae, in accordance with the provisions…

In a previous post, which discussed the Ballantines award, the author concluded that doors for dual nationals’ claims are being closed, including for non-ICSID cases where the relevant treaty does not have a provision dealing with the issue. The recent Heemsen v. Venezuela jurisdictional award confirms this approach. Unanimously, a PCA tribunal declined jurisdiction over…

Introduction In 2019, we witnessed a number of interesting developments in the field of investment arbitration in Latin America. While some of them were in line with expectations, some jurisdictions did deviate from their usual or expected approach to ISDS and surprised us in positive, but also in negative ways. Our authors did a tremendous…

It is said that states lose more times than investors in investment arbitration. Indeed, ICSID surveys reveal that while investors receive an award of costs in 41.4% of the cases, states receive a similar award of costs only in 23% of the cases, even when jurisdiction is fully declined. A case where a state prevails…

YAI TALKS#, a new conversation series launched by the ITA Young Arbitrators Initiative (YAI) under the leadership of YAI chair Montserrat Manzano (Von Wobeser y Sierra, Mexico City) and vice chair Silvia Marchili (King & Spalding, Houston), kicked off on May 12 in Washington, D.C., with a debate on claims by dual nationals against countries…