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.

Dow Jones | 23-Dec-2005
Ecuador’s attorney general Thursday said he expects a U.K court to rule in March on a dispute between the government and U.S. oil firm Occidental Petroleum Company (OXY).
| 16-Dec-2005
Given that CAFTA-DR passed only by a small margin, it is unclear how much support the U.S.-Andean FTA will have.
New Age | 9-Dec-2005
Experts have cautioned that bilateral investment treaties with the rich countries will ultimately lead the developing and least developed countries towards dangerous traps at the cost of their national interests.
| 19-Oct-2005
Romania has won at the International Court of Arbitration in Washington, the case brought by the American company Noble Ventures that contested the Romanian state actions in the privatization process of Resita Steel Plant (CSR).
GURN | 19-Oct-2005
Notwithstanding substantial doubts that increased FDI and economic growth are not automatically linked and that investments agreements may be less important in attracting FDI than other economic and socio-political framework conditions, the proliferation of bilateral investments agreements (BITs) goes ahead unrestrained.
UNCTAD | 30-Sep-2005
World Investment Report 2005, by UNCTAD, presents the latest trends in foreign direct investment and explores the internationalization of research and development by transnational corporations along with the development implications of this phenomenon.
Informa-tico.com | 28-Sep-2005
Costa Rica enfrenta desde junio pasado una demanda de la minera canadiense Vanessa Ventures Ltd, propietaria del archipolémico proyecto de explotación de oro a cielo abierto en Las Crucitas, frontera norte, la cual se suma a otro reclamo de inversionistas extranjeros de Ofinter S.A. -clausurada en el 2002- al amparo del acuerdo de inversiones suscrito en 1999 e incorporado al tratado de libre comercio (TLC) con Canadá.
UNCTAD | 26-Sep-2005
The past year saw a further proliferation of international investment agreements (IIAs) at the bilateral, regional, inter-regional, and plurilateral levels. On average, more than three such agreements were signed per week.
| 5-Sep-2005
Netherlands-based Mittal Steel, disqualified from the Vítkovice Steel privatization, says that in late September it will launch international arbitration against the Czech state.
Dawn | 24-Aug-2005
Pakistan has asked the United States to sign the proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) by dropping its demand that in case of an arbitration only the Washington based International Centre for Settlement of Disputes (ICSID) should be approached for a decision.