As we return to our offices, hopefully feeling refreshed and recharged after a summer break, it is time to reflect on the last three months of developments in international investment law and arbitrations. The third quarter of this year has been marked by significant changes and noteworthy trends not only vis-à-vis the Energy Charter Treaty… Read More Quarterly Review: July – September 2023
The Editorial Board of the EFILA Blog is excited to share the first EFILA Blog Quarterly Review! Our editors have gathered and reviewed developments, events and publications from the last quarter of 2022 to highlight some of the most relevant news in the field of international investment law, arbitration and the intersection of ISDS with… Read More Quarterly Review: October – December 2022
Alexandros-Cătălin Bakos[1] There is no denying that there is a serious backlash against investment arbitration at the moment. The signs are everywhere: from the latest discussions occurring within UNCITRAL’s Working Group III to the more recent practice of states (see the 22 European Union Member States’ declaration concerning the termination of their intra-EU Bilateral Investment… Read More Investment Tribunals Are Too Quick to Establish the Existence of Issue and Cause of Action Estoppel in International (Investment) Law
Priya Garg* A plethora of cases have been filed before investment tribunals regarding the issue of interaction or conflict between human rights obligations of investor or State and his or its, as the case may be, duties under international investment law (hereinafter, IIL).[1] The recent case of Urbaser v. Argentina only joins this already long… Read More A Meeting of the Two Worlds: The Human Rights Regime and International Investment Law – A Critique of Urbaser v. Argentina
by Andrii Hubai* The recent rise of third-party funding in international arbitration has opened a completely new dimension for arbitration itself. An opportunity of funding the parties of the process became a big deal breaker in many aspects that are visible at a first glance and those hidden behind the privacy clauses of funding agreements.… Read More Coming out of the Closet: Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration
by Harshal Morwale* “Arbitration is the grease that helps economies flow and brings us benefits around the world.” —David W. Rivkin[1] Introduction Arbitration is a dynamic dispute resolution technique. An arbitrator’s powers normally derive from the arbitration agreement. With increasing number of cross border transactions and international trade contracts, the arbitrability of arbitration agreements holds… Read More The Concept of Arbitrability of Arbitration Agreements in India
José María de la Jara*[1] and Eduardo Iñiguez*[2] In 1989, high-profile executives from Dubai met with Daniel Arap Moi, former President of Kenya, to seek his approval for the construction of duty free complexes at the Nairobi and Mombasa International Airports. At the beginning of the meeting, an executive from the investor, World Duty… Read More The Case Against the Corruption Defense
Nikos Lavranos, Secretary General, EFILA Recently, the UNCTAD Investment Division announced that it had “completed its regular semi-annual update of the Investment Dispute Settlement Navigator, which is now up-to-date as of 1 January 2017”. The Navigator is a useful web-based search tool containing information regarding pending and closed investor-State disputes based on the thousands of… Read More The continued lack of adequate investment protection in Europe
Given the present debate surrounding the investment and EU law community (enhanced by the Brexit, the TTIP or CETA negotiations), the EFILA Blog editorial board believes that a veritable dialogue must take place, allowing all arguments to be heard and all diverging positions to be defended. Therefore, The EFILA Blog editorial board welcomes any contribution that pertains… Read More Call for Contributions: EFILA Blog
by Duarte G. Henriques, BCH Advocados* During a meeting on the occasion of the last ICCA Congress in Mauritius, someone asked whether a Third Party Funding is considered an “investment” for the purposes of protection afforded by international investment agreements (“IIAs”) and investor state dispute settlement (“ISDS”). Contrary to my first reaction—“no, TPF is not protected”—the… Read More Is Third Party Funding a Relevant “Investment” for the Purposes of a IIA Protection?