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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.

Conflit entre États latinoaméricains et entreprises transnationales : les défis de la région face à des traités d’investissement asymétriques
IISD | 8-Aug-2018
Face à des demandes de plusieurs millions de dollars, de nombreux États d’Amérique latine ont critiqué l’arbitrage d’investissement. Un groupe de chercheurs construisant une base de données d’outils juridiques et politiques vise à changer cela.
keywords: investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Latin America
Conflicts between Latin American countries and transnational corporations: The challenges of the region in the face of asymmetrical investment treaties
IISD | 8-Aug-2018
Facing multimillion dollar claims, many Latin American states have become critical of investment arbitration. A group of researchers building a database of legal and policy tools aims to change this.
keywords: investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Latin America
Décharge de Médiouna : plusieurs zones d’ombre persistent
Eco Actu | 8-Aug-2018
Le conseil de la commune de Casablanca avait constaté des manquements graves en matière de gestion de la décharge dont les conséquences environnementales et sanitaires sont drastiques.
keywords: environment , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Morocco , services , US
Chile: Avalancha de TLCs en el Congreso ¿Por qué y para qué?
Diario Uchile | 7-Aug-2018
Los TLC son mucho más que tratados sobre el comercio entre países. En realidad avanzan en la desregulación y liberalización de actividades económicas que antes han estado en manos de los Estados, como los servicios públicos, la educación, la salud, el sistema de pensiones y otros.
keywords: Chile , corporate interests , investor-state disputes | ISDS , services
Mexico ratifies the ICSID Convention
ICSID | 7-Aug-2018
The United Mexican States deposited its Instrument of Ratification of the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States with the World Bank.
keywords: ICSID , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Mexico
Chile - Senador Juan Ignacio Latorre: “Con los TLCs hay una pérdida de soberanía del Estado respecto a las empresas transnacionales”
Chile Mejor sin TLC | 6-Aug-2018
Esta semana deben ser votados en el Congreso Nacional cuatro tratados de libre comercio: con Argentina, China e Indonesia en la Cámara de Diputados y el polémico TLC con Uruguay en el Senado.
keywords: Chile , corporate interests , investor-state disputes | ISDS , sovereignty | democracy
Expropriation without compensation? Ask the British.
Africa is a country | 4-Aug-2018
Zimbabwe is still seeking to have annulled two Awards issued by a tribunal of the ICSID. The disputes concern the government’s expropriation of timber plantations which were first established by Rhodes’ BSAC.
keywords: investor-state disputes | ISDS , land , Zimbabwe
One hundred years of expropriation without compensation
Expropriate | 4-Aug-2018
On 29 July 1918, the British judiciary proffered the Empire’s most expressly and egregiously racist justification for the land dispossession of indigenous peoples. Today, an ICSID tribunal continues that mission. No matter which way Zimbabwean’s turn at the polls, they’re still paying for their invasion and occupation by Cecil Rhodes’ British South Africa company...
keywords: Germany , human rights , indigenous peoples , investor-state disputes | ISDS , land , Switzerland , UK , Zimbabwe
Colombia: Odebrecht demandó al Estado por 3.8 billones de pesos
El Espectador | 3-Aug-2018
Odebrecht vuelve a ser noticia, no por un nuevo escándalo de corrupción sino por una millonaria demanda que interpuso contra el Estado por $3.8 billones de pesos.
keywords: Colombia , investor-state disputes | ISDS
Asia’s evolving ‘free’ trade deal may not benefit workers
Manila Times | 3-Aug-2018
Labor unions and workers’ rights advocates fear that the secretive RCEP agreement will further erode workers’ rights in the Asian region, while strengthening the hands of investors who may be able to sue governments for changing laws such as setting minimum wages, that would erode their profitability.
keywords: investor-state disputes | ISDS , labour | workers’ rights , RCEP