publish

Middle East

States from the Middle East have concluded about 600 investment deals. 44 ISDS cases have been brought against Middle Eastern countries, while investors from the region have initiated 44 cases as well.

In 2013, Al-Kharafi & Sons Co., investors from Kuwait, were awarded US$935 million under the Unified Agreement for the Investment of Arab Capital in the Arab States, in a dispute over a land-leasing contract for a tourism project in Libya, making it one of the largest known awards to date. They had only invested about US$5 million but the arbitration tribunal decided that Libya also had to compensate for profits that would have been made during the 90-year leasing contract and were now lost.

Photo: President of Azerbaijan / CC BY 4.0

(April 2020)

World Bank body dismisses Agility’s claims against Iraq
Reuters | 24-Feb-2021
Kuwaiti logistics company Agility’s claim to recover more than $380 million it said it lost in Iraq has been rejected by an international tribunal.
investor-state disputes | ISDS , Iraq , Kuwait , services
Bredin Prat représente avec succès la République du Liban dans le cadre d’un arbitrage CIRDI
Le Monde du Droit | 30-Jan-2021
Un tribunal arbitral présidé par Albert Jan van den Berg a octroyé US$218.205,00 en dommages-intérêts à M. El Jaouni alors que le montant des dommages-intérêts initialement sollicités s’élevait à US$1.3 milliard.
investor-state disputes | ISDS , Lebanon , services
Jersey’s BIT with the UAE and reflections on investment treaty practice in non-sovereign autonomous regions
Mondaq | 26-Oct-2020
Most recently, Jersey has joined Hong Kong as another non-sovereign entity that negotiates its own BITs. Jersey is set to sign its first BIT with the UAE later this year.
investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Jersey , UAE
Bercy s’oppose au dégel des avoirs du fonds Libyan Investment Authority
La Lettre A | 24-Oct-2020
Près de dix ans après le début du conflit libyen, une créance d’un milliard d’euros fait toujours l’objet d’âpres batailles juridiques entre Paris, Tripoli et Koweït city.
France , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Kuwait , Libya , services
Orange attaque l’Etat irakien après avoir perdu 400 millions de dollars dans un opérateur local
BFM | 15-Oct-2020
L’opérateur télécoms français Orange a lancé une procédure judiciaire contre l’Etat irakien pour "expropriation" en mars 2019 de son investissement dans l’opérateur Korek Telecom, estimé à plus de 400 millions de dollars.
investor-state disputes | ISDS , Iraq , telecommunications
Orange begins legal proceedings against Iraq government
Telecompaper | 15-Oct-2020
Orange Group has instituted legal proceedings against Iraq in an attempt to claw back more than USD 400 million in investments it alleges were expropriated by the country’s regulator.
investor-state disputes | ISDS , Iraq , telecommunications
Guatemala gana arbitraje a la israelí IC Power ante la Corte Permanente de Arbitraje
CIAR Global | 9-Oct-2020
El pasado 7 de octubre de 2020, un tribunal de arbitraje de la Corte Permanente de Arbitraje resolvió que Guatemala no incumplió el tratado invocado en el procedimiento que mantiene, desde 2018, con la israelí IC Power por una cuestión tributaria.
Guatemala , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Israel
Al Kharafi-LIA : l’arbitrage à un milliard d’euros atterrit en cassation à Paris
Africa Intelligence | 1-Oct-2020
Le groupe koweïtien Al Kharafi veut faire confirmer ses saisies des actifs français du fonds souverain libyen LIA. Mais la sentence arbitrale dont il se prévaut a été annulée par la justice égyptienne.
France , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Kuwait , Libya , services
Iskandar Safa : l’homme qui fait plier les États
Le Télégramme | 6-Aug-2020
L’homme d’affaires franco-libanais vient de remporter un nouveau jugement contre Athènes, qui lui contestait la propriété d’Hellenic Shipyards.
Greece , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Lebanon
Annulment of Al Kharafi v. Libya arbitral award by Cairo court of appeal
Lexology | 16-Jun-2020
On 3 June 2020, the Cairo Court of Appeal set aside a US$ 1 billion investment treaty award arising out of a dispute between a Kuwaiti construction company and the State of Libya, in relation to a license for a tourist development project in Tripoli, Libya.
Egypt , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Kuwait , Libya , services