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

13 March, 2023
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

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

03 February, 2023
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

ICJ orders Colombia immediately to cease activities in Nicaraguan EEZ waters

04 May, 2022
On April 21, 2022, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered judgment in Nicaragua v. Colombia concerning alleged violations of sovereign rights and maritime spaces in the Caribbean Sea. Following a ruling rendered in 2012 in a territorial and maritime dispute between the two countries, the ICJ determined that Colombia breached its international obligation to … Read more

SPANISH COURT DECISION FOLLOWING END OF SUSPENSION OF THE US HELMS-BURTON ACT: JURISDICTION DECLINED IN CLAIM CONCERNING ASSETS NATIONALIZED BY CUBA

14 November, 2019
The decision recently delivered in the case Central Santa Lucia L.C. v. Meliá Hotels International S.A., brought before the First Instance Court of Palma de Mallorca (the “Decision”), is one of the first rendered by a European court concerning confiscated property in Cuba after the end of suspension of Title III of the Libertad Act … Read more

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S EVALUATION AND FITNESS CHECK ROADMAP: AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE THE EU-CENTRAL AMERICA ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT

08 August, 2019
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

ICJ determines first ever compensation claim for environmental harm

13 April, 2018
On 2 February 2018, the International Court of Justice (the “ICJ” or the “Court”) delivered judgment in the case concerning Certain Activities Carried Out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v Nicaragua), determining the amount of compensation due to Costa Rica for environmental harm caused by Nicaragua’s activities in the northern part of … Read more

TPP deal reached: investment arbitration survives

05 October, 2015
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 website here. As anticipated, the TPP includes substantive investment protections found in many investment agreements, … Read more