Investment treaty arbitration tribunals have addressed issues surrounding State intervention and States’ regulatory freedom time and time again, consequently creating guiding precedent regarding State conduct that could constitute breaches of the fair and equitable treatment (“FET”) or expropriation standards. However, recently, an investment treaty arbitration tribunal not only had to deal with issues surrounding the…

When it comes to consent to the jurisdiction of international courts and tribunals, its understanding and interpretation raise a fundamental question – do we really know what it means? In this blog post, it will be demonstrated that there are a number of uncertainties around the notion of consent in investment arbitration. The theoretical underpinnings…

The Centre for International Law and Governance, University of Copenhagen, in cooperation with Hasselt University and Seven Summits Arbitration, recently hosted an expert roundtable on “The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) at a Crossroads”. The discussion, moderated by the three authors of this post, focused on the relationship between investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), investment protection, modernization…

Since 2006, the Bolivian State adopted a policy of “recovery” of resources and entities that were considered as ‘strategic’ by the State.  Multiple investment arbitration proceedings against Bolivia were initiated as a consequence of the expropriation measures derived from the execution of this policy. To this date, the main claim in each of these cases…

On 29 June 2022, an ICSID Tribunal composed of Alexis Mourre, Luis González García and Adolfo Jiménez issued its Final Award in the case brought by Alejandro Diego Díaz Gaspar, a Spanish national, against Costa Rica. The majority of the Tribunal ultimately found minor breaches of the underlying Costa Rica-Spain Bilateral Investment Treaty (the “Treaty”)…

The Spanish Cases Saga illustrates the arduous task of balancing the host state’s right to regulate and an investor’s economic interests. This post summarizes the tribunal’s reasoning in Novenergia v. Spain and Stadtwerke München v. Spain regarding FET breaches in the energy sector. The post argues that the latter case adopts a clearer analysis of…

FET is often described as the core standard of international investment law.  Recently, there has been renewed discussion on its intended meaning, by reference to a range of source materials that arguably reflect States’ intentions at the time of concluding investment treaties.  On December 10, 2021, the Dispute Resolution Interest Group of the American Society…

As part of the 2022 Paris Arbitration Week, Jeantet organised a round table on “The Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard: Update and Perspective”. The panel was composed of Yuriy Pochtovyk (Legal Official, Energy Charter Secretariat), Prof. Kaj Hobér (Associate Member, 3 Verulam Buildings), Barton Legum (Partner, Honlet Legum Arbitration), Irena Alajbeg (Croatian Ministry of Foreign and…

Since his inauguration in December 2018, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has endeavored to reverse the liberalization of the energy market achieved by his predecessor. In the last few months, actions to resume government control of Mexico’s free energy markets have intensified with the adoption and proposal of regulation affecting investor’s rights and…

On December 11, 2020, the Dispute Resolution Interest Group (“DRIG”) of the American Society of International Law (“ASIL”) hosted a webinar on “The Future of Investor-State Dispute Settlement under the Energy Charter Treaty.”  The event featured Amaia Rivas Kortazar, André von Walter, Crina Baltag, and Yuriy Pochtovyk, and was moderated by DRIG co-chairs Simon Batifort…

In the early 2000s, several European states introduced generous incentive programs to attract investors to renewable energy, triggering an investment boom. In the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008, however, the incentive payments put a strain on regulators. The subsequent changes to the regulations of the renewable energy sector implemented by Spain, Italy,…

Traditionally, one of the central pillars of the FET standard has been the protection of legitimate expectations. Legitimate expectations can be either based on a host state’s specific representations provided to the investor, or, under certain conditions, such expectation can be based on the regulatory framework that existed at the time of making the investment….

The “right of clarification” (in German: Aufklarungsrecht) is a product of the inquisitorial method of hearing. It refers to a judge’s right to ask, suggest to or require the parties to clarify or supplement their ambiguous, insufficient or improper claims, submissions or evidence. In international arbitration, which is strongly influenced by the adversarial system, arbitral…

The investment protection mechanism in the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is meant to, among other things, promote, attract, and protect foreign investments in the member states’ energy sectors. In 2018, the Energy Charter Conference announced its list of approved topics for the modernization of the ECT. The list included several substantive investment protection provisions. This…

In interpreting one of the most contested investment treaty protection standards – fair and equitable treatment – arbitral tribunals have increasingly referred to the necessity for an investor to conduct a due diligence investigation before investing in a host state. Foreign investors have been required to assess not only commercial, but also general socio-political risks….

It is widely acknowledged that the departure of the UK from the EU, commonly referred to as Brexit, gives rise to multiple legal problems, some of which are bound to lead to actions. While there is a widespread coverage of public law related litigation, there is less knowledge of potential private actions, including those taking…

In the first part of this article, we discussed the problems of balancing an investor’s intellectual property rights with the sovereign right of a State. Now, we look at how Philip Morris v Uruguay has added to the debate. In 2010 Philip Morris challenged two measures adopted by the government of Uruguay: (1) a “single…

The constructive framework of ISDS was intended to promote investment and growth through the establishment of a stable and predictable atmosphere for investment. However, some have argued that this purpose has been warped to allow a small group of private individuals to rule on public matters. Arbitrations such as CMS v Argentina, Tecmed v Mexico,…

The panel on Arbitration Challenged Part I: Reforming Substantive Obligations in Investment Treaties and Conditions of Access to Investment Arbitration, at ICCA Sydney 2018 Conference, was moderated by Meg Kinnear, Secretary General of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Canada) and had contributions from speakers Christophe Bondy, Cooley LLP (Canada); Max Bonnell, White…

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court, in a rare appeal against an award in a bilateral investment treaty arbitration, confirmed its statutory restraint in reviewing arbitral awards pursuant to article 190 of the Private International Law Act (“PILA”) and rejected the host state’s request to set aside the award for violating substantive public policy. (Case 4A_157/2017,…

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) made waves in a post-Trump era of hostility towards free trade. But not all press is good press and CETA’s investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism has come under fire. While all chapters of the CETA entered into force at midnight on September 21, 2017, one didn’t: the controversial…

Introduction Following the denial by Italian authorities to grant Rockhopper Exploration PLC (a UK upstream company; hereafter, RKH) the production concession for an oil and gas field, in May 2017, the company lodged (jointly with its Italian subsidiary, hereafter collectively referred to as the Claimant) a request for arbitration against Italy with the ICSID by…

In the 2000s, mortgages in Swiss Franc (CHF) were very popular among consumers in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe for the acquisition of both private and commercial properties, as the CHF was a stable and reliable currency and offered lower interest rates than loans in Euro or in local currencies. When on 15 January 2015…

These two-parts blog posts look into the ways that states can control the exercise of tribunals’ discretion and their implications. Of course, states can prevent unintended results from happening by simply adding more specific language to their new BITs. But what can they do with the existing treaties? Due process concerns Joint interpretative statements, as…