In August 2015, the United States, then president Barack Obama, and the heads of numerous federal executive agencies were sued in a civil rights action by a group of 21 young people, non-profit organization Earth Guardians, and Dr. James Hansen as guardian for future generations. The action was filed in federal district court in Oregon, … 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 conclude the negotiations before the end of 2017, but US President Donald Trump indicated on … 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 intact, 20 provisions of the TPP are suspended, in particular with respect to Investor–State Dispute … 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 NAFTA parties to bring claims directly against it.[1] The proposal apparently remains under discussion within … 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 been covered extensively in national and international media and, given the scope of the interests … 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 last month by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (the “USTR”), the federal … Read more

In a press release published on 15 June 2016 (available here), the International Court of Justice ("ICJ") announced that Iran has instituted proceedings against the USA, in respect of alleged violations under the 1955 US-Iran Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights (the "Treaty"). Notably, Iran's application concerns allegations that the US, through measures … Read more

Since the announcement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ("JCPOA") in July 2015, companies have been preparing for the relaxation of sanctions that will allow them to re-enter Iran.  As Implementation Day (the point at which some sanctions will be relaxed) approaches, the UK's Foreign & Commonwealth Office (the "FCO") has updated its guidance … Read more