In a highly anticipated ruling published last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in NextEra Energy v. Spain that U.S. district courts have jurisdiction to enforce arbitral awards issued in intra-EU...more
The UK has announced that it will review its membership of the Energy Charter Treaty (the “ECT” or “Treaty”) if there is no agreement on modernisation by November 2023. This announcement comes after a second vote on...more
Some readers will be familiar with the many claims made against Spain for the alleged violation of its obligations to foreign investors under the Energy Charter Treaty (the ECT). In May 2023, the English Commercial Court...more
The much anticipated High Court of Australia (High Court) appeal of the full Federal Court of Australia's decision in Kingdom of Spain v Infrastructure Services Luxembourg S.à.r.l. (No 3) [2021] FCAFC 3 will now be heard in...more
The tribunal in Green Power v. Kingdom of Spain declined jurisdiction, finding that the parties had not validly consented to arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty. A tribunal seated in Sweden has become the first...more
The Contracting Parties to the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) on June 24, 2022, announced their agreement in principle on the modernization of the ECT. Part of the agreement “confirm[s] that an investor from a Contracting Party...more
On July 1, 2022, the amended Regulations and Rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) (the 2022 Rules) will come into effect after being approved by the Member States on March 21,...more
On 21 March 2022, a comprehensively updated set of rules and regulations for ICSID arbitration, conciliation, and mediation proceedings was approved. The new rules and regulations will go into effect on 1 July 2022. The...more
The World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the leading arbitration venue for investor-State arbitration, has released its FY2020 caseload statistics. This information indicates...more
In 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) rendered a judgment in the Achmea case, which has led to much controversy and concern in the European investor-state arbitration community. ...more
An International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal has recently dismissed the jurisdictional challenges of the Republic of Cyprus and is pushing ahead with a multiparty arbitration commenced by...more
The last few weeks have seen a raft of new investor-state arbitrations under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), including the first known investor-state claim against the European Union (EU) itself. These claims largely arise...more
A federal court in Washington, D.C. has recognized and enforced a US$331 million arbitral award against Romania under an intra-EU BIT—notwithstanding the objection of the European Commission that the award is incompatible...more
Introduction - In a decision rendered on 18 June 2019 (joint Cases T 624/15, T 694/15 and T 704/15), the General Court of the European Union (the Court) annulled the European Commission’s (the EC) decision 2015/1570 of 30...more
In a long-awaited ruling of June 18, 2019, the General Court of the EU (GCEU) annulled the European Commission’s State aid 2015 decision in the Micula case (joined cases T-624/15, T-694/15 and T-704/15). The factual...more
ICSID tribunal retains jurisdiction, rejecting Germany and European Commission’s arguments that intra-EU arbitration under ECT incompatible with EU law - On 31 August 2018, the arbitral Tribunal hearing the claim by...more
Striking a balance between the UK’s obligations under the ICSID Convention and under EU law - ?On 27 July 2018, the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in Viorel Micula and others v Romania and European Commission...more
The Ruling: On March 6, 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") issued a judgment in the Achmea v. Slovakia case on whether the investor–state arbitration provision in the Netherlands–Slovakia Bilateral...more
CJEU ruling on the incompatibility of a BIT provision with EU law may have implications for existing intra-EU BITs. Key Points: ..The CJEU’s decision differs from Advocate-General Melchior Wathelet’s 2017 Opinion and...more
The Selection of international arbitrators is one of the most important aspects of the arbitral process. Established methods span from the selection of arbitrators by agreement between the parties to the selection by...more
On 20 January 2017, the English Commercial Court handed down an important judgment addressing the intersection of a State’s public international law obligations in investment treaty arbitration and its obligations under...more
Privy Council clarifies the nature of arbitration clauses, but uncertainties about the clauses’ effect still remain. “Non-exclusive” arbitration clauses provide that disputes “may” be referred to arbitration (rather than...more
International investment arbitration – also known as investment treaty arbitration or investor-State arbitration – is a procedure whereby foreign investors may seek a binding adjudication of claims against host States that...more
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal recently reaffirmed the high threshold for granting provisional measures in investor-state disputes, including in the context of making an order...more
In This Issue: -The ABCs of Arbitrating Outside of the New York Convention - Leading International Arbitration Partner Joins Latham & Watkins in Paris - US Supreme Court Revives International Arbitration...more