Since 2001, ITN has offered news, analysis, and opinions on international investment law and its implications for sustainable development.
On May 30, 2024, the Council of the European Union adopted a set of decisions greenlighting the withdrawal of the EU and Euratom from the ECT. The step follows several […]
On April 26, 2024, the United Kingdom notified its withdrawal from the ECT. This follows an earlier announcement of this step by the British government in February, in which Minister […]
On April 24, 2024, the European Parliament voted to adopt the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), following months of negotiations between EU institutions and member states. While such an […]
In a referendum on Sunday, April 21, the citizens of Ecuador emphatically voted to keep Article 422 of the country’s 2008 constitution, which prevents Ecuador from using international arbitration to […]
On April 30, 2024, ICSID’s Administrative Council appointed Martina Polasek as the new ICSID Secretary General. Her term begins on July 1, 2024, when she succeeds Meg Kinnear, who served […]
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has delivered its much-awaited advisory opinion regarding climate change obligations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea […]
In a landmark judgment, the European Court of Human Rights found that Switzerland was not acting timely, sufficiently, and consistently to fulfill its positive obligations under the European Convention on […]
As opposed to the approaches taken by various EU member states’ courts (see, e.g., here), the Swiss Federal Tribunal upheld an intra-EU investment award based on the ECT. The highest […]
On 22-26 January 2024, UNCITRAL Working Group III on Reform of ISDS held its 47th session in Vienna. The majority of the session was devoted to the Draft Statute of […]
The 4th Joint Committee of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) held its meeting on 9 February, 2024, leading to, among other things, a joint interpretation on investment. The […]
On 22 February 2024, the UK government announced that it is leaving the ECT after the failure of efforts to align it with net zero. The withdrawal announcement by Slovenia […]
The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the WTO took place on 26 February-2 March 2024, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with close to 4,000 participants. The ministers ended the […]
UNCTAD held the first of its newly established Multi-stakeholder Platform on IIA Reform on 4 March, 2024, with over 40 participants. The platform was launched at the 8th World Investment […]
The 7th Inter-sessional Meeting of Working Group III was held in Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium on 7 and 8 March, 2024. The overarching theme of the meeting was “a […]
On 11 March, 2024, the OECD held its 9th Investment Treaty Conference focusing on methods to align investment treaties with the Paris Agreement. The main reform proposal discussed was a […]
On 13-15 March, 2024, the UNIDROIT and ICC Institute of World Business Law Working Group on International Investment Contracts held its Second session in Paris. The Working Group, composed mostly […]
For the first time, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is discussing a consolidated text of the draft deep-sea mineral exploitation regulations. Commercial deep-sea mining has been attracting increased attention, particularly […]
Based on a draft resolution submitted by Nigeria on behalf of the African Group, the recent United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolution on the UN tax treaty aims to bolster […]
In September 2023, the European Commission has unveiled a non-paper presenting model clauses for BITs between EU member states and third countries. These model clauses, accompanied by annotations, aim to […]
In October 2023, UNCITRAL delegates to Working Group III gathered again in Vienna to continue their work on ISDS reform. Two topics were discussed—(i) draft provisions on the establishment of […]
From October 15 to 20, 2023, UNCTAD organized its eighth World Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi. The World Investment Forum highlighted global investment challenges and opportunities. Discussions focused on sustainable […]
The English High Court upheld Nigeria’s challenge against controversial awards in favour of Process & Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) by finding significant irregularities in the arbitration process. The arbitration awards […]
As we reported earlier, in 2021, the German energy company RWE filed for a controversial ECT arbitration challenging the Netherlands’ coal phase-out. In the context of the arbitration, the Netherlands […]
EU appears as a respondent in one of the three arbitrations brought by oil-refining companies belonging to Klesch Group (here, here, and here). It has been reported that the trio […]
The Singapore company Zeph Investments Pte, owned by Australian billionaire Clive Palmer, has reportedly filed a notice of intention to commence arbitration against Australia based on the Singapore–Australia Free Trade […]
On July 6, 2023, more than 110 WTO members reached a significant milestone, as the finalization of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement’s (IFDA) text was announced. The IFDA is […]
On July 7, 2023, the European Commission proposed a coordinated withdrawal by the EU, its member states, and Euratom from the ECT, citing the treaty’s incompatibility with the EU’s climate […]
The United Kingdom—a major ECT contracting state outside of the EU—indicated on September 1 that it would consider withdrawing from the ECT if the treaty’s signatories fail to agree on […]
As part of the enforcement saga of investment treaty arbitration awards issued in the renewable energy disputes against Spain, a Luxembourgish investor (formerly known as “Antin”) secured a seizing order […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a decision to enforce an award in favour of Devas based on a long-running dispute between Devas and Antrix. The […]
The state prevailed in an unusual dispute brought against it by companies ultimately controlled by a former Czech senator, Ivo Valenta. The case concerned municipalities’ authority to regulate gambling on […]
The German Federal Court of Justice confirmed in three related cases that EU member states may apply to it to hold intra-EU investment arbitrations based on the ECT and filed […]
During its July session, the UNCITRAL (Commission) adopted in principle the Code of Conduct for Arbitrators and . This is the first official outcome of the UNCITRAL Working Group III […]
According to a press statement released by the Energy Charter’s Secretariat on March 17, 2023, Germany exercised its right under Article 17 of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) to deny […]
The European Parliament recommended to the Commission to propose a Directive on the regulation of third-party funding in the EU with the title “Responsible funding of litigation.” If adopted in […]
The Government of Norway has been pursuing the termination of its bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with members of the European Economic Area (EEA–EEA membership contains EU and European Free Trade […]
In March 2023, it was reported that the Government of India had sent out 68 notices of termination regarding its existing bilateral investment treaties (BITs). It is understood that the […]
The two Latin American states signed a bilateral investment treaty in February 2023. For Venezuela, it is a first investment treaty signed since 2008, and the first signed with another […]
On March 30, 2023, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its judgment on the merits in a case closely watched by the investment law community. The case concerned the […]
As award creditors in the renewable energy ISDS cases lost by Spain face significant hurdles to enforce their awards within the EU, they often turn to U.S. courts for enforcement. […]
The continent’s Ministers of Justice finalized legal scrubbing of the three key protocols to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), among which was the Protocol on Investment (the other […]
After a vote in the Council of the EU for the proposed reform of the Energy Charter Treaty failed last November, the European Commission appears to have radically shifted its […]
The Office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Intergovernmental Working Group on the right to development have published a call for comments on the […]
Since September 2020, a group of WTO members has been negotiating a new agreement on investment facilitation disciplines, following nearly 3 years of preparatory work. The negotiations for this Investment […]
In November 2022, the EU signed three memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Namibia on strategic cooperation on sustainable raw materials, batteries, and renewable hydrogen. These MoUs are […]
In February 2023, the EU and India set up a new Trade and Technology Council (TTC). The new TTC will deepen strategic engagement on trade and technology between both partners. […]
On January 5, 2023, the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive entered into force. This new directive codifies the rules about the social and environmental information that companies have to report. […]
The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are one of the main reference instruments that set out recommendations to businesses for ensuring responsible business conduct in a wide area of business […]
African negotiators embarked on a yearlong process in December 2021 to develop the text of the Protocol on Investment, culminating in a final version that defines the protection, promotion, and facilitation […]
Amid a growing number of national decisions to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty, pressure on the European Commission to prepare a withdrawal of the bloc is increasing. So far, […]
