An investment treaty does not confer jurisdiction over every dispute merely because arbitration is commenced while the treaty is in force. Jurisdiction ratione temporis in investment treaty arbitration determines whether the challenged State conduct and, where the treaty so provides, the dispute itself fall within the treaty’s temporal scope. Temporal issues commonly arise, for instance, […]
A FRANDly Forum? The Growing Role of Arbitration in SEP Disputes
Standard-essential patent (“SEP”) disputes expose a fundamental mismatch between territorial patent rights and global technology markets. Although patents are granted and enforced nationally, the standards they protect, and the products that implement those standards, operate across borders. A single licensing disagreement may therefore trigger parallel infringement, validity and fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (“FRAND”) rate-setting proceedings […]
LSG Building Solutions v. Romania: Annulment Is Not an Appeal
On 18 February 2026, an ad hoc committee constituted under the ICSID Convention (the “Committee”) unanimously dismissed Romania’s application for annulment of the Award rendered in an arbitration brought by LSG Building Solutions GmbH and nine other claimants (the “Claimants”). Annulment is a limited form of review for specific fundamental defects. It is not an […]
When an Arbitral Award Becomes State Aid
An arbitral award is usually expected to bring a dispute to an end. Within the European Union, however, an award against a Member State or a public entity may open an entirely new front: whether its payment or enforcement would amount to unlawful State aid under Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the […]
Moral Damages in Investor-State Arbitration after Emergofin
In Emergofin B.V. and Velbay Holdings Ltd. v. Ukraine, the Tribunal rejected the claim for moral damages from the outset. It did not treat moral damages as only a question of evidence or valuation; the Tribunal went further and held that the claim fell outside its jurisdiction or, alternatively, was inadmissible.[1] The Award incorporates the […]