Por Howard Mann, Asesor Senior en Derecho Internacional del Instituto Internacional de Desarrollo Sostenible 2 de Mayo 2009 El 31 de marzo de 2009 Dow AgroSciences LLC, subsidiaria de la Empresa Química Dow de EUA, inició un arbitraje bajo el Capítulo 11 del TLCAN contra Canadá debido a la prohibición de productos químicos del césped […]
By Howard Mann, Senior International Legal Advisor to the International Institute for Sustainable Development 2 May 2009 On 31 March 2009 Dow AgroSciences LLC, a subsidiary of the U.S. Dow Chemical Company, initiated its NAFTA Chapter 11 arbitration against Canada due to the banning of cosmetic lawn chemicals in the province of Quebec. This is […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 28 April 2009 An ICSID tribunal has ordered the government of Zimbabwe to compensate a group of Dutch nationals who saw their farms expropriated under Zimbabwe’s controversial land-reform program. The victory is expected to lead other European nationals who lost farms in Zimbabwe to seek compensation under bilateral investment treaties. The thirteen […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 2 April 2009 (Note: a correction has been made to this article. An explanation is posted below). A group of European’s with a stake in South Africa’s granite-quarrying sector and the Government of South Africa have agreed to suspend arbitration proceedings* for two months. The claimants—several Italians and a Luxembourg corporation—allege that […]
Por Elizabeth Whitsitt 2 de Marzo, 2009 En un laudo recientemente publicado, un tribunal constituido conforme a una solicitud de arbitraje bajo las reglas de arbitraje de la Comisión de Naciones Unidas para el Derecho Mercantil Internacional (CNUDMI) encontró culpable a la República Argentina por los daños infringidos a National Grid p.l.c. por un total […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 23 March 2009 A South African judicial ruling has opened the door for two plaintiffs to seek compensation for alleged expropriation of their mineral rights, in a case that echoes the complaints made by European investors in a pending international arbitration against South Africa under bilateral investment treaties. The judgment* comes in response […]
By Elizabeth Whitsitt 2 March 2009 In a recently published award, a tribunal convened pursuant to a request for arbitration under the arbitration rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) found the Argentine Republic liable to the British firm National Grid p.l.c. for damages totaling more than US$53 million. The dispute, […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 20 February 2009 The Spanish investor Grupo Marsans is behind a claim against Argentina registered by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes on 30 January 2009. A spokesperson for the Madrid-based Grupo Marsans, Angel Del Rio, said his company had launched those proceedings through a holding company, Teinver S.A, […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 4 February 2009 Bolivian President Evo Morales has claimed victory in the 25 January 2009 national referendum on a new constitution for the Andean nation. The constitution passed just days after the Bolivian leader announced his government was finally taking control of the Chaco Petroleum Company, as part of the ongoing […]
By Fernando Cabrera and Damon Vis-Dunbar 29 January 2009 The Canadian tobacco manufacturer Grand River Enterprises Six Nations and the United State have filed memorials in a long-running NAFTA Chapter 11 dispute. The arbitration proceedings, which began in April of 2004, have been delayed several times due to challenges to jurisdiction and to one of […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 30 November 2008 The government of Argentina is driving ahead with its plan to expropriate the country’s largest airline from its Spanish owners in the face of a threatened US$1 billion arbitration claim. The Madrid-based Grupo Marsans had agreed to sell the troubled Aerolineas Argentinas to the government in July, but […]
By Suzy H. Nikiéma 28 November 2008 In a 12 November 2008 final award, an ICSID tribunal has dismissed all claims by two Italian investors, L.E.S.I S.p.A. and ASTALI S.p.A, in a dispute with the government of Algeria over a failed contract to construct a hydraulic dam. While the contract with the National Agency for […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 13 November 2008 The Canadian government has been sent two letters from outdoor tour companies signaling intent to sue for alleged breaches of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Both outfitters complain that their businesses suffered when the Province of Quebec changed the rules for distributing fishing licenses. The two businesses led […]
By Fernando Diaz Cabrera 28 October 2008 Lawyers for the Dominican Republic have accused a subsidiary of the French financial services company Société Générale of breaking confidentiality rules in an ad-hoc arbitration when it issued a press release announcing that the tribunal had ruled in its favour by rejecting the Dominican Republic’s objections to jurisdiction. […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 23 October 2008 One of the world’s largest chemical manufacturers may sue the Canadian government over the ban of a lawn pesticide in the Province of Quebec. The Canadian government revealed on 21 October that, some two months earlier, it was served with a “Notice of Intent” by Dow AgroSciences LLC, a […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 30 September 2008 The Dominican Republic faces two possible treaty claims in a dispute with a consortium it hired to extend and operate an important highway connecting the capital with the eastern part of the island. The dispute centres on a 2001 concession contract signed between the Concesionaria Dominicana de Autopistas […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 26 September 2008 A US citizen, Devincci Salah Hourani, has launched a lawsuit against the government of Kazakhstan over a failed contract to explore and exploit oil in the country. Mr. Hourani, who holds a 92% stake in the Kazakh firm Caratube International Oil Company (CIOC), has alleged breaches of the United […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 24 September 2008 An American businessman has revived long-held suspicions that the North American Free Trade Agreement’s investment chapter may hinder Canada’s ability to regulate its public health-care system. In a letter sent to the Canadian government in July 2008—a so-called Notice of Intent—Melvin J. Howard accuses provincial authorities of putting up […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar September 10, 2008 In an award rendered on September 5, 2008, an arbitral tribunal has dismissed all but one of the claims brought by an American investor, Continental Casualty, against the government of Argentina. Argentina was found liable for damages of US$ 2.8 million plus interest: a fraction of the US$ 112 […]