Webinar: Developments in Investment Negotiations, Dispute Settlement and Reform: A practitioner's perspective

The field of investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) has evolved dramatically in recent years. To date, countries have negotiated nearly 3,000 bilateral investment treaties, most of which have an ISDS mechanism. There are also several trade agreements that include an ISDS mechanism in their investment chapters.

There are now over 900 known treaty-based investor–state arbitrations, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The arbitration experience so far has highlighted some of the challenges in the current ISDS system, while prompting repeated calls for reform.

Multilateral deliberations on ISDS reform are now underway under the Working Group III process at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). There is also a process ongoing at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) to amend its arbitration rules.  

As countries continue debating reforms to the current system, they will need to incorporate lessons learned from past arbitration experiences, as well as recent developments in investment-related jurisprudence.

The fifth session of IISD’s Webinar Series on Investment Law and Policy, taking place on April 16, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. EDT / 3:00 p.m. CEST, is designed to provide negotiators with those insights.

The webinar features a presentation from George Kahale III, Chairman, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, who was one of the speakers at the 12th Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators in February 2019.

The webinar will feature a recording of Mr. Kahale’s forum presentation, where he provides a practitioner’s perspective on how treaty-based investment arbitration has evolved. He also analyzes what these developments mean for negotiating processes in multilateral forums, such as those at UNCITRAL and ICSID.

After the video, Mr. Kahale will be joining us live to answer questions from participants. The webinar will be hosted on the Zoom platform. To register, visit the link below.