The last few months have seen significant changes to mining regulations in various African states, giving rise to a concern that a regional trend of resource nationalism may be (re-)emerging. In this context it is important for companies associated with… Read more

We have known for some time now that the UK and EU have very different views regarding the state-to-state dispute resolution mechanism to be contained in the Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK. The EU has never made… Read more

One month into 2018, the future of NAFTA continues to hang in the balance. The negotiating parties will reportedly convene in Ottawa for the sixth of seven planned negotiating sessions from January 23 – 29th.[1] The parties initially hoped to… Read more

Key points The ministers responsible for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) of 11 countries have announced that the core elements of a Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership are agreed (CPTPP). While much of the original TPP looks to remain… Read more

On 19 October the UK Government published the text of a proposed new Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill (the "Bill"), which seeks to create a post-Brexit domestic legislative framework for the imposition and enforcement of sanctions. The introduction of the… Read more

An intergovernmental working group mandated to draft a new international legal instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations in relation to human rights is holding its third meeting in Geneva this week. Negotiations for a business and human rights… Read more

On 23 September 2017, a Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) delivered its judgment on the longstanding maritime boundary dispute between Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. The Special Chamber reconfirmed the relevance of the… Read more

On its face, the thrust of the UK Government's Future Partnership Paper on Enforcement and Dispute Resolution (the Paper), published on 23 August, is to rule out the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to… Read more

In a long-running dispute, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ("PCA") Tribunal has issued its Final Award. The Final Award, which runs to nearly 400 pages, determines disputed territorial and maritime boundaries between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of… Read more

The US Trade Representative (USTR) is reportedly finalizing a proposal to dramatically restructure NAFTA's investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, transforming it into an "opt-in" regime under which each NAFTA state would elect whether or not to permit investors of other… Read more

On August 16, 2017, trade representatives of the United States, Mexico and Canada will convene in Washington, DC for the first of seven scheduled rounds of negotiations in relation to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The negotiations have… Read more

The United States will lobby for changes to the investor-state dispute settlement ("ISDS") provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA") in the upcoming discussions to renegotiate the regional treaty. ISDS reform is one of several "negotiating objectives" announced… Read more

In an award dated 9 March 2017, the Tribunal in an ICSID arbitration between Korean investor Ansung Housing Co., Ltd and China dismissed all claims as time-barred. The Claimant's attempt to circumvent the limitation period by relying on the most… Read more

The Brexit White Paper The much-anticipated Brexit White Paper, ‘The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union’, was published on 2 February 2017. This post focuses on a subject that has to date received relatively little… Read more

The EU Commission (the Commission) has launched a public consultation on the multilateral reform of the investment dispute settlement system.  The survey is found here and responses are due by 15 March 2017.  The consultation is the next step in… Read more

In an opinion issued on 21 December 2016, EU Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston QC has concluded that the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) will need to be finalised by the European Union and the Member States acting jointly, i.e. entered… Read more

On 30 October 2016, the EU and Canada signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (the CETA).  As explained in our blog post here, the text of the CETA, which was originally agreed in 2014, was subjected to "legal scrubbing"… Read more

A hearing on jurisdiction and the merits in UNCITRAL Case No. UNCT.15/3, will be transmitted live in English and Spanish via internet feed from Monday, December 5, 2016 to Monday, December 12, 2016, excluding Saturday and Sunday, from 9:00 a.m. to… Read more

As previously noted in April 2015, India amended its model bilateral investment treaty (the Indian Model BIT) and has reportedly been deploying it in recent months to seek to re-negotiate bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with over 47 countries (see previous… Read more

A hearing on jurisdiction and the merits in ICSID Case No. ARB/14/24, United Utilities (Tallinn) B.V. and Aktsiaselts Tallinna Vesi v Republic of Estonia, will be transmitted live via internet feed from Monday, November 7, 2016 to Tuesday, November 15, 2016… Read more

The immunity of states and their assets from the reach of national courts is an area of law with considerable practical implications for both private and state owned entities entering into international energy contracts. In this panel discussion, the speakers… Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills has helped secure a victory for the Kingdom of Spain in an investor-state arbitration under the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce rules commenced by two European investors Charanne B.V. (Netherlands) and Construction Investments S.à.r.l. (Luxembourg). The disputes concerned… Read more

ICSID has published Practice Notes for Respondents in ICSID Arbitration (the "Notes"), a 31 page practical guidance note on ICSID arbitration brought under the ICSID Convention or the ICSID Additional Facility Rules. The Notes aim to answer the questions most… Read more

After a lengthy final period of negotiation in Atlanta, it has been announced that the TPP, the world's largest mega-regional trade and investment deal, has been agreed. The investment chapter is not yet available but is briefly summarised on USTR's… Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills is pleased to announce that Christian Leathley, partner in the International Arbitration and Public International Law groups, has moved to the firm's New York office. Christian is both English and New York qualified. His practice centres on… Read more