International arbitration in the South Pacific: a view from Australia

By Brenda Horrigan, Chad Catterwell and Guillermo Garcia-Perrote. International arbitration is gaining ground across the South Pacific region. There are a wide range of benefits brought about by implementing an effective framework for international arbitration across the region, most prominently increased foreign investment opportunities and the economic advantages that brings. Presently, eight countries from the … Read more

AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT TO REVIEW ITS BILATERAL INVESTMENT TREATIES

The Australian Federal Government has announced it is reviewing the bilateral investment treaties (BITs) to which Australia is a party. BITs are typically entered into to promote and protect investments made between the BIT partner States. To that end, Australia is party to 15 BITs with each of Argentina, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, Laos, … Read more

European Commission issues procedural proposals for the Investment Court System envisaged under CETA

In October 2019, the European Commission (the “Commission“) presented four proposals (the “Proposals“) to the Council of the European Union (the “Council“) with specific rules to establish the Investment Court System (“ICS“) envisaged under the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (“CETA“). If the Council and the EU Member States approve the Proposals, the EU … Read more

Australian Joint Standing Committee on Treaties approves new investment treaties between Australia, Hong Kong and Indonesia

The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (“JSCOT“) of the Australian Parliament has just released Report No. 186 examining three treaties: the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and Hong Kong, China (“HK-FTA“), the Investment Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China … Read more

China’s Lin-gang Free Trade Zone in Shanghai Opens to Foreign Arbitration Institutions from 2020

On 8 November 2019, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice publically announced the “Administrative Measures for Business Offices Established by Overseas Arbitration Institutions in Lin-gang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone” (Administrative Measures) (dated 21 October 2019) at the Shanghai International Arbitration Summit, as one of the events in the 2019 China … Read more

MERCOSUR AND THE EUROPEAN UNION AGREE HISTORIC AND AMBITIOUS TRADE AGREEMENT

On June 28, 2019, the European Union and the Common Market of the South (“Mercosur”), announced they had reached a trade deal after twenty years of negotiations (the “EU-Mercosur Agreement”).  While the agreement in principle is still subject to ratification by the national parliaments of the member states of both blocs, the European Parliament and … Read more