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.

TNI | 14-Apr-2015
In response to growing public criticism of international investment law, a new lobby group has emerged, EFILA, seeking to influence European officials.
Observatoire des Multinationales | 14-Apr-2015
An international arbitral tribunal has just ordered Argentina to pay nearly 400 million Euro to Suez because in 2006, after years of conflict, Argentina renationalized the water services in Buenos Aires.
Observatoire des Multinationales | 13-Apr-2015
Un tribunal arbitral international vient de condamner l’Argentine à verser près de 400 millions d’euros à Suez environnement, pour avoir renationalisé le service de l’eau de Buenos Aires en 2006, après des années de conflits.
Malaysia Kini | 10-Apr-2015
The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) is most concerned about the serious implications of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clauses and provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and other such agreements and treaties that Malaysia signs.
AFL-CIO | 10-Apr-2015
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) call for an end to ISDS in all pending trade and investment agreements.
Cambridge University Press | 10-Apr-2015
The treaty-based system of investment protection has become tenuous, and change has become inevitable. Emphasising the changes resulting from resistance to a system based on neoliberal foundations, this study looks at recent developments in the area.
Amazon Watch | 9-Apr-2015
An apparent Chevron whistleblower has sent Amazon Watch dozens of internal company videos showing Chevron employees and consultants manipulating evidence linked to the oil giant’s extensive contamination - and legal dispute - in Ecuador.
Indian Express | 3-Apr-2015
The finance ministry has drafted a fresh bilateral investment protection treaty that would keep taxation measures and issuance of compulsory licences for intellectual property rights out of the sphere of arbitration while preventing foreign investors to drag India to arbitration for any dispute that has already been settled by the courts.
Lexology | 2-Apr-2015
The leaked investment chapter of the TPP looks very similar to the 2012 US Model BIT, with a few notable additions and changes to the text.
HIC-HLRN | 1-Apr-2015
In many cases, international investment agreements have the purpose and/or effect of hijacking the international human rights system.