London International Disputes Week 2021 (LIDW21) comes at a significant period for the UK legal sector, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, post-Brexit and amid an uncertain global political environment. With its theme: “Looking forward: change, challenge and opportunity”, LIDW21 will provide crucial insights on the business and law of international dispute resolution. The programme draws … Read more

The prospect of an independent Scotland raises a number of significant questions as to the impact on the rights and obligations of both Scotland and the rest of the UK (rUK) under international law. This short article highlights some of the key international law implications of Scottish independence and how they may impact on private … Read more

Since Indonesia announced its intention to terminate and replace “all of its 67 bilateral investment treaties” (BITs) in 2014, the State has actively re-negotiated several BITs. Starting with some of its largest trading partners in the region, Indonesia signed new BITs with Singapore in 2018 and Australia in 2019. On 9 March 2021, the Agreement … Read more

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (the “Treaty“) entered into force on 22 January 2021. The Treaty is the first treaty to ban nuclear weapons, and has received support to date from 88 States. Background The Treaty was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 7 July 2017 and has been open … Read more

In the case of Argentum Exploration Limited v. The Silver [2020] EWHC 3434 (Admlty) the English High Court held on 16 December 2020 that the Republic of South Africa (the “RSA“) was not immune from the Court’s adjudicative jurisdiction, despite RSA’s argument that it had state immunity. As such, the RSA was required to pay … Read more

On 29 January 2021, the European Union (“EU”) and Canada adopted four decisions (the “Decisions”), which put in place specific rules elaborating the Investment Court System (“ICS”) agreed in the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (“CETA”). The Decisions set out detailed rules and procedures regarding the structure of the Appellate Tribunal and the conduct … Read more

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) has released case statistics for 2020 (available here) showing a record number of new cases. While the figures confirm that the Covid-19 pandemic has not so far significantly affected the nature of those disputes, other changes – such as a shift to virtual hearings – are … Read more

On 30 December 2020, the European Union and China announced their Agreement in Principle for the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). This is a landmark development for both parties in these long-running negotiations which began in 2012. On 22 January 2021, in the interest of transparency, Brussels published certain draft sections (here) of the … Read more