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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.

South Africa: Govt faces first expropriation suit
Mining MX | 16-Feb-2007
A foreign mining company is suing the South African government over alleged expropriation of its mineral rights in a move that has huge implications for the country’s new mining dispensation.
keywords: investor-state disputes | ISDS , Luxembourg , mining , South Africa
Peru, Colombia trade deals would lock in more bad investment rules
FPIF | 18-Dec-2006
The investment rules in the Colombia and Peru trade pacts with the US deserve special scrutiny. They grant protections for private foreign investors that are virtually identical to those in NAFTA, CAFTA and myriad bilateral investment treaties signed over the past two decades. And yet these countries are being pulled on board at a time of a dramatic awakening about these rules’ potential for harm.
keywords: Colombia , investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Peru , US
Africa: Arbitration nation
Legal Week | 28-Oct-2006
A number of African governments have made efforts to encourage investment in the continent by entering into bilateral investment treaties and adopting arbitration legislation.
keywords: Egypt , ICSID , investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Nigeria , South Africa , UNCITRAL
Occidental drops a claim but may strengthen suit vs government
Easy Bourse | 10-Oct-2006
US-based Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) has dropped a compensation claim against Ecuador’s state oil company Petroecuador in a move that analysts said may strengthen the oil firm’s case against the government.
keywords: Ecuador , investor-state disputes | ISDS
IP rights under investment agreements: the TRIPS-plus implications for enforcement and protection of public interest
South Centre | 27-Sep-2006
One of the issues that has recently started to influence the negotiations for new investment agreements involves the question of the status of IP rights and the impact of investment agreements on the rights, obligations and regulatory discretions of countries under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
keywords: bilateralism & multilateralism , intellectual property , investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS
International court rules in favor of Hungary in Telenor case
| 21-Sep-2006
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has ruled in favor of the State of Hungary in a case brought against it by Norwegian telco Telenor, business daily Világgazdaság reported on Monday.
keywords: Hungary , ICSID , investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Norway , telecommunications
Oxus Gold seeks arbitration order to protect Kyrgyz investments
| 15-Sep-2006
Mining company Oxus Gold PLC said it is seeking an arbitration order to protect its investments in Kyrgyzstan, following the government-sponsored seizure of premises owned by Talas Gold Mining Co, Oxus’ joint venture company at Jerooy. Oxus said that representatives of Jerooyaltyn, a recently created joint venture between Kyrgyzaltyn and Global G.o.l.d, and local police forcibly took possession of the building on Thursday in direct contravention of the UK-Kyrgyz Bilateral Investment Treaty and Kyrgyz law.
keywords: investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Kyrgyzstan , mining , UK , UNCITRAL
Ecuador Prez: No Oxy arbitration
| 11-Sep-2006
Ecuadorian President Alfredo Palacio has rejected arbitration against his nation for annulling in May the contract with US Oxy oil company that operated there.
keywords: Ecuador , energy , ICSID , investor-state disputes | ISDS
Privatizando la justicia: El arbitraje en los tratados comerciales internacionales
Movimiento Boliviano por la Soberanía y la Integración solidaria de los pueblos: Contra el TLC y el ALCA | 8-Sep-2006
Para proteger sus intereses, el capital transnacional impone un sistema de resolución de conflictos hecho a medida, reemplazando la tradicional justicia democrática y constitucional con una más favorable a sus intereses. Lo llama arbitraje. Antecedentes, actualidad, y portentos
keywords: ICSID , investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS
Analysis: Will UNCITRAL arbitrations become even more secretive?
| 3-Sep-2006
Proposals tabled by the Vienna-based UNCITRAL Secretariat could make it more difficult for observers to discover and monitor international arbitrations taking place under the UNCITRAL rules.
keywords: investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , UNCITRAL