The UAE parliament[1] has approved a new arbitration law based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. The Cabinet of Ministers will make a final review of the new UAE arbitration law and, afterwards, it will enter into force once the Supreme Council and Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan sign it. Experts do not expect any more in-depth […]
Investor-State Dispute Settlement in Intra-EU BITs Is Incompatible with EU Law – Case C-284/16
On 6 March 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) found that investor-State dispute settlement (“ISDS”) in intra-EU BIT’s is incompatible with EU law. The CJUE rendered the important Achmea judgment against the Opinion of the Advocate General Wathelet and found that: “Articles 267 and 344 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding a provision in an international agreement […]
State Counterclaim in Investment Arbitration
An ICSID arbitral tribunal awarded approximately USD 40 million in damages to Ecuador for the foreign investor’s liability for the costs of restoring the environment in an area concerned by the investment. This award of a counterclaim in investment arbitration was made by an arbitral tribunal composed of Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, Brigitte Stern and Stephen Drymer in […]
Disclosure of Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration
The disclosure of third-party funding is becoming increasingly common in international arbitration proceedings. This is reasonable, as the fact that there is an outside influence on the case affects the decision-making process and impacts issues such as transparency, impartiality, independence and conflicts of interest. For instance, if a third-party funder has a conflict of interest […]
Provisional Measures in International Investment Arbitration – To What Extent Are They Binding and Enforceable?
The authority of arbitral tribunals to grant interim or provisional measures in international investment arbitration is today uncontested and represents current practice[1]. This “inherent power”[2] of arbitral tribunals is encompassed in multiple investment arbitration instruments, such as Article 47 of the ICSID Convention, Article 39 of the ICSID Arbitration Rules, Article 26 of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and Article 1134 of the […]