For the first time under Rule 54(2) of the ICSID 2022 Arbitration Rules, the Tribunal in Ruby River Capital LLC v. Canada (ICSID Case No. ARB/23/5) had to decide on a request for suspension of the proceeding. In its Request for Suspension, Canada asked the Tribunal to suspend the proceeding until the Tribunal in TC ..read more

The rapid progression of technology is transforming industries and reshaping global geopolitical dynamics. With the rise of generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) and explosive share growth, US tech giants – such as Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, and Amazon – dominate the list of the world’s most valuable companies. Amid concerns over the influence tech companies wield ..read more

On February 13, 2024, a tribunal comprising of Alexis Mourre, Eduardo Siqueiros and Eduardo Zuleta Jaramillo rendered an award in the case of Latin American Regional Aviation Holding S. de S.R.L. v. Uruguay (ICSID Case No. ARB/19/16), under the Panama – Uruguay bilateral investment treaty (the “Treaty”). The dispute concerned Uruguay’s national airline Pluna, where ..read more

On 12 April 2024, the Regional Court of Essen (“LG Essen”) dismissed Spain’s request for an anti-enforcement injunction of an intra-EU investor-state arbitration award (2 O 447/22). The LG Essen held that anti-enforcement injunctions are inadmissible because they violate state sovereignty. This blog post will cover the facts and background of the decision, examine the legal issues involved, discuss its implications, and provide an outlook.   Facts and Background The LG Essen’s decision is part of a broader effort by investors to enforce investor-state arbitration awards between an EU inve ..read more

If an international arbitration practitioner hears “renewable energy,” “renewable energy source,” (“RES”) or even “energy transition” disputes, chances are that he or she may think of the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”) and the torrent of claims filed by investors against European Union (“EU”) Member States. These claims challenge retroactive regulatory changes to feed-in tariff and green credit incentive schemes for solar and wind energy in the 2000s and 2010s. With this cycle of investment treaty claims now coming to an end and a multi-jurisdictional “enforcement” contest beginning between awa ..read more

The European Commission’s “Proposal for a Council Decision on the partial suspension of the application of the Energy Charter Treaty between the Union and any legal entity that is owned or controlled by citizens or nationals of the Russian Federation or of the Republic of Belarus, and any Investment within the meaning of the Energy Charter Treaty which is an Investment of an Investor of the Russian Federation or of the Republic of Belarus” (the “Proposal”) raises more questions than it answers. Some of these relate to the respective powers of the European Union (the “EU”) and its institutions ..read more

The Ecuadorian government held a referendum and a public consultation on 21 April 2024. Question D of the referendum asked citizens: “Do you agree that the Ecuadorian State recognizes international arbitration as a method to resolve disputes related to investment, contractual, or commercial matters?” (free translation). The substantive proposal of the question was merely based on a proposed reform of Article 422 of the Ecuadorian Constitution (“Article 422”), as explained further below. Article 422 prohibits Ecuador from executing international treaties that “yield sovereign jurisdiction” to ..read more

At the end of February 2024, the United Kingdom (“UK”)’s Energy Security and Net Zero Minister Graham Stuart announced his country’s decision to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”). On 28 May 2024, the Energy Charter Secretariat revealed in a press release that the UK’s formal notification of withdrawal had already been received by the treaty’s depositary, Portugal, on 26 April 2024. The UK will follow a number of European Union (“EU”) countries that either have already or will soon formally declare their exit from the ECT (see, in that regard, the ECT Secretariat’s press rele ..read more

It took 16 years of negotiations for India and the European Free Trade Association (“EFTA”)—comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein—to clinch a free trade agreement (“FTA”). The newly minted FTA is expected to boost the extant levels of trade between the two countries. The formal name of the signed agreement is the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (“TEPA”). However, in this piece, I refer to it as an FTA for two reasons. First, the TEPA contains all the usual traits that one typically associates with an FTA such as liberalizing trade in goods and services and having ..read more

As part of the 2024 edition of the London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”), Reed Smith LLP hosted a panel on “Bank Collapse and ISDS: Arbitration Strategy and Dramatis Personae”. The panel, moderated by Lucy Winnington-Ingram (Reed Smith), comprised Kathleen Garrett (Reed Smith), Cameron Miles (3 Verulam Buildings), Lorena Fatás Pérez (Ministry of Justice of Spain), Timothy Mayer (LCM Finance), and Kiran Sequeira (Secretariat). The panel kicked off with a hypothetical scenario of the life cycle of an international investment dispute arising out of the collapse of a bank, where each panelli ..read more