On 12 November 2015, the European Union’s proposal for “Investment Protection and Resolution of Investment Disputes” was made public. This proposal is part of the chapter on Investment contained in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (“TTIP”), currently being negotiated between the EU and the United States. One significant aspect in this proposal is the provision on Transparency contained in Article 18 of Section 3 of the chapter on Investment. It provides for the application…
On August 4, 2015, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision in Chevron Corp. v. Republic of Ecuador, 795 F.3d 200…
The much awaited text of the TPP has been released. As anticipated, the Investment Chapter (Chapter 9) sets…
Agreement has been reached on the long-awaited Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is a free trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim nations, including Australia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States, which represent around 40% of global GDP and one third of world trade. The text of the TPP is still being finalised by the TPP States and is not yet available. Reports indicate that the TPP includes an Investment Chapter with a…
A PDF version of this article is availabe here. A. Introduction 1. On August 18, 2015, the chamber…
On 18 June 2015 the European Commission issued a press release stating that they had “initiated proceedings against…
On Sept. 16, 2015, the European Union launched a proposal for a new “Investment Court System” which shall be competent to hear investor-state disputes, initially those emerging under a completed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (“TTIP”) currently negotiated between the United States of America and the European Union. In the long run, the Investment Court System is apparently meant to replace the classic investment arbitration or “Investor-State Dispute Settlement” (“ISDS”), at least to the extent…
On 11 August 2015, the Tribunal in the case of Perenco Ecuador Limited v. The Republic of Ecuador…
In Miminco, LLC v. Democratic Republic of the Congo, No. 14-01987 (D.D.C. Feb. 9, 2015), a U.S. district court…
A Discussion of the Yukos Case Can the unsuccessful party challenge an arbitral award on the basis that an arbitral secretary was substantially involved? The Russian Federation argues “Yes” and applied in November 2014 to the District Court of The Hague to set aside the so-called Yukos awards. [1] The arbitral secretary in the Yukos case had devoted between 40 % and 70 % more time to the arbitrations than did any of the arbitrators.…