investor-state disputes | ISDS

Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) refers to a way of handling conflicts under international investment agreements whereby companies from one party are allowed to sue the government of another party. This means they can file a complaint and seek compensation for damages. Many BITs and investment chapters of FTAs allow for this if the investor’s expectation of a profit has been negatively affected by some action that the host government took, such as changing a policy. The dispute is normally handled not in a public court but through a private abritration panel. The usual venues where these proceedings take place are the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (World Bank), the International Chamber of Commerce, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law or the International Court of Justice.

ISDS is a hot topic right now because it is being challenged very strongly by concerned citizens in the context of the EU-US TTIP negotiations, the TransPacific Partnership talks and the CETA deal between Canada and the EU.

The Guardian | 6-May-2015
Alfred de Zayas said the UN will publish a report in August to illustrate the flaws in current plans for the TTIP.
Global Arbitration News | 6-May-2015
The Italian government has recently declared its withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”).
Reuters | 5-May-2015
The EU’s trade chief proposed on Tuesday creating a new European court to settle disputes in international trade agreements, a step aimed at overcoming growing public resistance to a free-trade accord with the United States.
Korea Herald | 4-May-2015
A former top financial official who advocated for Korea Exchange Bank’s breakaway from Lone Star has taken up a position in a law firm that represents the US buyout firm at a time when the firm is suing the Korean government for $4.6 billion in an investor-state dispute.
Korea Herald | 4-May-2015
The Dutch company will file an ISDS application against the Korean government, should the authorities refuse to pay 183.5 billion won ($169.9 million) in tax refund.
RT | 4-May-2015
A group of radical performance activists who hail from New York staged an “exorcism” of corporate power outside an international law firm in London to raise awareness about the dangers of an EU-US trade deal being brokered behind closed doors.
City Limits | 29-Apr-2015
"We cannot tell President Obama what to do. [But] our hard fought victories for protecting the lives of all New Yorkers will be at risk if he signs the TPP."
La Gran Época | 28-Apr-2015
Más de 1,5 millones de personas firmaron en Europa suspender las negociaciones impulsadas desde 2013 por Barack Obama.
Washington Post | 28-Apr-2015
Obama leans hard into the idea that TPP’s ISDS will be drawn explicitly to prevent corporate gaming of the litigation process
InfoJustice.org | 26-Apr-2015
There is an increasingly urgent need revise the EU and US ISDS templates to protect IP policy decisions from the ISDS chapters of trade agreements.