Colombia and Venezuela agree a new Bilateral Investment Treaty, Venezuela’s first since withdrawing from the ICSID Convention

On February 23, 2019, Venezuela broke diplomatic relations with Colombia and gave Colombian diplomats twenty-four hours to leave the country. Four years later, on February 3, 2023, Colombia and Venezuela signed an unprecedented bilateral investment treaty (BIT) that evidences the marked improvement in their relations since the election of President Gustavo Petro in June 2022. … Read more

Treaty on maritime biodiversity finalised

On 4 March 2023, the UN Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (Conference) reached agreement on the text of a new treaty which seeks to protect the marine environment. The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond … Read more

Inter-American Court of Human Rights Asked to Issue Advisory Opinion on States’ Obligation to Respond to the Climate Emergency

On January 9, 2023, Chile and Colombia co-signed a request to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“Inter-American Court”) for an advisory opinion with the purpose of “clarify[ing] the scope of the States’ obligations … to respond to the climate emergency within the framework of international human rights law” (the “Request”). Read more

Lebanon and Israel sign a historic maritime boundary deal, triggering the immediate commencement of exploration and exploitation of oil and gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea

Following-up on our earlier blog post (available here), the leaders of both Israel and Lebanon have yesterday signed a historic deal delimiting their maritime boundaries, marking a new era for both countries and paving the way for further offshore energy exploration in the Mediterranean Sea.  The accord will enter into force shortly, once the US … Read more