ITN

ITN Quarterly June 2013

PDF – English (708 KB) – Français (393 KB) – Español (689 KB) In this issue: Smart Flexibility Clauses in International Investment Agreements; The Quest for Commodities: Chinese Investment in […]

Smart Flexibility Clauses in International Investment Agreements

A major challenge for investment treaty designers and adjudicators is to separate opportunistic behavior by host states that should be sanctioned under international law from bona fide public policy measures that should not. This article suggests that International Investment Agreements need to be both ‘smarter’ and more ‘flexible’ to better make that distinction. It draws on economic contract theory as a basic framework, and political economy theory for fine-tuning.

ITN  |  mars 25, 2013

Resources and Events

Resources Chinese Outward Investment: An Emerging Policy Framework Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Lise Johnson, Jianping Zhang, IISD, 2012 This book is an English-language compilation covering over 80 primary texts relevant to Chinese […]

ITN  |  mars 25, 2013

Awards and Decisions

Claim against Venezuela dismissed; State acted legitimately in response to contractual violations Vannessa Ventures Ltd. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)04/6 Damon Vis-Dunbar A claim by Vannessa […]

Enabling Risky Business: Human Rights and the Role of Officially Supported Trade Finance and Investment Guarantees

The expanded role played by Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) since the global financial crisis has not been matched with stronger rules that address the human rights-related impacts of ECA financed projects. Given narrow set of regulations that currently apply to ECAs, this brief article argues that more needs to be done to ensure that ECA financed projects do not cause harm to home states.

Remedies in Investor-State Arbitration: A Public Interest Perspective

While an extensive body of literature maps the tensions between regulatory sovereignty and investor protection in international investment law and analyses the balancing of private and public interests in arbitral practice, only a small sub-set of this literature makes reference to public interest considerations at the remedies stage of the investor-state arbitration process.

A Distinction Without a Difference? The Interpretation of Fair and Equitable Treatment Under Customary International Law by Investment Tribunals

Broad interpretations of the standard for fair and equitable treatment (FET) by investment tribunals have become a source of increasing controversy. In theory, linking FET to customary international law (CIL), which is formed through the “general and consistent practice of states” that they follow out of a sense of legal obligation (opinio juris), results in a standard of protection that is more deferential to the regulatory authority of governments than the “autonomous” standard. In practice, however, investment tribunals continue to construe even CIL-based FET provisions to impose broad limits on government authority by accepting, without any evidence of state practice or opinio juris, the pronouncements of previous tribunals as definitive evidence of the standard under CIL.

ITN  |  janvier 14, 2013

Awards and Decisions

US$1.76 billion dollar award levied against Ecuador in dispute with Occidental; tribunal split over damages   Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Occidental Exploration and Production Company v. The Republic of Ecuador, […]

The IMF’s New Transfers Policy and the Trading System

In late 2012, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) officially endorsed an “institutional view” on the management of capital flows. This short note provides an overview of the new IMF view, pinpoints how it may conflict with country obligations under trade and investment treaties, and discusses remedies for reform.

The Sixth Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators: Understanding and Harnessing the New Models for Investment and Sustainable Development

The Sixth Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators was held on October 29-31, 2012, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The forum encourages participants to develop their own critical perspectives on issues which are germane to the negotiation of international investment treaties.

Integrating Sustainable Development into International Investment Agreements: A Commonwealth Guide for Developing Country Negotiators

In November 2012 the Commonwealth Secretariat completed a practical guide, titled “Integrating Sustainable Development into International Investment Agreements: A Guide for Developing Countries,” to help enable developing countries to design international investment agreements that support their development needs.

Peru’s State Coordination and Response System for International Investment Disputes

Just as Peru has joined the global trend of concluding investment protection agreements, the country has also been no stranger to the considerable increase in international investment disputes observed in recent years. To address this growth in international investment arbitration in line with its investment attraction policy, Peru has created a system for efficiently and effectively resolving potential disputes.

ITN  |  novembre 27, 2012

SADC Model BIT

SADC Model BIT

ITN  |  octobre 30, 2012

Resources and Events

Resources International Arbitration Case Law This website is a private, not-for-profit academic endeavour, in partnership with the School of International Arbitration, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of […]

Towards a New Generation of Investment Policies: UNCTAD’s Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development

On 12 June 2012, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development launched its Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development. IPFSD comes at a time when the international investment regime is in a state of « transition » and when an increasing number of governments are reviewing their investment-related regulatory frameworks, both at the national and international levels.

ITN Quarterly October 2012

PDF – English (914 KB) – Français (1 MB) – Español (1 MB) Investment Treaties and Investor Corruption: An Emerging Defense for Host States?; Dealing With the Increasing Complexity of […]

Inching Towards Consensus: An Update on the UNCITRAL Transparency Negotiations

From October 1-5, 2012, a working group of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law met in Vienna to continue work on how to ensure transparency in treaty-based investor-state arbitration. It was the working group’s fifth week-long meeting on the topic, but will not be the last.

The Source for Determining Standards of Review in International Investment Law

After several cases assessing whether state regulation in the public interest gives rise to a claim under an investment treaty, commentators have begun asking questions about the applicable standard of […]

ITN  |  juillet 19, 2012

Resources and Events

UNCTAD’s Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development (IPFSD) UNCTAD, June 2012 The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has established a set of principles for investment policymaking, guidelines […]

ITN  |  juillet 19, 2012

Awards and Decisions

Claim against Slovakia dismissed, as tribunal complains of poorly presented case  Jan Oostergetel and Theodora Laurentius v. The Slovak Republic Damon Vis-Dunbar A tribunal has dismissed a claim by a […]

ITN Quarterly July 2012

PDF – English (686 KB) – Français (694 KB) – Español (576 KB) In this issue: Deference or No Deference, That is the Question: Legitimacy and Standards of Review in […]

ITN  |  avril 13, 2012

Resources and Events

Resources Fair and Equitable Treatment: UNCTAD Series on Issues in International Investment Agreements II UNCTAD, March 2012 This paper explores how the concept of Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) has […]

Pro-Investor or Pro-State Bias in Investment-Treaty Arbitration? Forthcoming Study Gives Cause for Concern

Debates about investment treaties often raise questions about fairness and independence in international investment arbitration. Some observers argue that investment arbitration offers a neutral and impartial forum in which to […]

Venezuela’s Withdrawal From ICSID: What it Does and Does Not Achieve

In January 2012, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela denounced the ICSID Convention,[1] becoming the third country – after Bolivia and Ecuador – to do so. The exit from the global […]

Defining an ICSID Investment: Why Economic Development Should be the Core Element

A dispute will only fall within the jurisdiction of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) if it directly arises out of an ‘investment’, as is provided by Article 25(1) of the Convention for the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention). However, not only does the ICSID Convention fail to provide any definition of what constitutes an ‘investment’, the drafters of the ICSID Convention, in fact, made an express decision not to include such a definition. This absence has given rise to interesting issues of interpretation as ICSID tribunals have sought to arrive at an understanding of how the term ‘investment’ should be properly understood for the purposes of the ICSID Convention.

ITN Quarterly December 2011/January 2012

PDF – English (521 KB) – Français (433 KB) – Español (477 KB) Flip-Page – English – Français – Español In this issue: Mission Creep: International Investment Agreements and Sovereign Debt […]