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

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

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

On 29 June 2012, the European Union and the six partner countries in Central America – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama – signed an Association Agreement (the EU-Central America Association Agreement) (the “Association Agreement“).  The purpose of this FTA was to develop trade and investment relations between parties. On 13 May … Read more

In a landmark decision concerning Ukraine’s complaint against Russia’s transit restrictions, a WTO Panel has ruled for the first time on the nature of the GATT national security exception. The Panel took the view that the invocation of the exception is justiciable and subject to scrutiny by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). This is contrary to the position … Read more

Following an incident last November, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (“ITLOS”) has prescribed provisional measures requiring Russia to release three Ukrainian naval vessels. Background The November 2018 incident and institution of arbitration In late November 2018, the Russian coast guard arrested and detained three Ukrainian naval vessels near the Kerch Strait … Read more

On 30 April 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU“) confirmed that the mechanism for the settlement of disputes between investors and states set out in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada (“CETA“) was compatible with EU law. This confirms the Attorney General’s opinion discussed here. The … Read more

The Dutch Government has recently published the final version of its model Bilateral Investment Treaty (the Model BIT). The key changes since the May 2018 Draft Model BIT (discussed in our blog post here) are addressed below. The Model BIT includes some practical guidance for investors as to how the requirement of “substantive business interests” … Read more