On 28 February 2020 the Supreme Court of Canada in Nevsun Resources Ltd. v. Araya (2020 SCC 5) issued a 5-4 ruling allowing a claim by Eritrean miners against Nevsun Resources Ltd. (“Nevsun”), a Canadian mining company, to proceed. The miners had initiated proceedings in British Columbia against Nevsun alleging, among other things, breaches of … Read more
In MODSAF v IMS [2020] EWCA Civ 145, the Court of Appeal confirmed that an award debtor was not liable to pay interest on an arbitration award where it was prohibited to satisfy this award by international sanctions. Background On 24 June 2008, the Ministry of Defence and Support for Armed Forces of the Islamic … Read more
Herbert Smith Freehills has helped secure an important victory for the Kingdom of Spain in a long-running investor-state arbitration concerning regulatory changes made by Spain in 2010 to the Feed-in Tariff regulation governing the photovoltaic (“PV”) sector in Spain. Read more
On 12 February 2020, the European Parliament (“EP“) gave its consent to the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (“EU-Vietnam FTA“) and the Investment Protection Agreement (“EU-Vietnam IPA“). The consent from the EP paves the way for approval of the two agreements by the EU Council of Ministers next month. In brief, the EU-Vietnam FTA focuses on … Read more
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) has released case statistics for 2019 and updated their records for cases since 1972 (available here). ICSID has historically administered the majority of investor-state claims and these statistics remain an important bellwether for trends in such disputes. The 2019 statistics show that a lower number of … Read more
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law’s (“UNCITRAL“) Working Group III (Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform) (“WGIII“) has published its report (the “Report“) on the work conducted between 20 and 24 January 2020 during its resumed 38th session. The Report provides details about the discussions around the following issues: (i) whether the investor-state dispute settlement … Read more
Following the UK’s departure as a Member State from the EU on 31 January 2020, the UK is now considering pursuing Free Trade Agreements (“FTAs”) with the EU and the rest of the world. On 6 February, the Department for International Trade (“DIT”) outlined the UK Government’s proposed approach to the negotiation of FTAs with … Read more
An ad hoc committee (the “Resubmission Committee“) has recently dismissed the claimants’ application to annul a resubmission award issued in September 2016 (and subsequently rectified) in Victor Pey Casado and President Allende Foundation v Republic of Chile (ICSID Case No. ARB/98/2), the longest dispute in the history of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment … Read more
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law’s (“UNCITRAL“) Working Group III (Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform) (“WGIII“) has published its report (the “Report“) on the work conducted between 14 and 18 October 2019 during its 38th session. The Report provides details about the discussions around three issues in particular: (i) the establishment of an advisory … Read more
