Host State Security Lapses
Host State Security Lapses: Inadequate Protection and Security in Investment
Navigating the complex landscape of international investment can be a daunting task, especially when there is a "Host State Security Lapses" for investors face inadequate protection and security from host states.
The lack...
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International Expropriation
What Is International Expropriation?
International expropriation is the taking of a foreign investor's property by a host state. Sometimes the taking is open: a government nationalizes an oil block or seizes a factory. More often it is indirect — a permit revoked, a tax campaign, a...
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Dual Nationality Dispute: ICSID vs. UNCITRAL Ruling
A dual nationality dispute arises when an investor sues a state whose passport the investor also holds. Whether that claim survives depends heavily on the forum. ICSID applies a bright-line rule that can shut the door completely. By contrast, tribunals operating under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules have sometimes let the same type...
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Energy Charter Treaty: Dispute Mechanisms
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) has shaped cross-border energy investment for nearly three decades. It protects investors from one contracting state who invest in the energy sector of another. It backs those protections with binding arbitration. However, the treaty now stands at a crossroads, because several European states and the EU itself...
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Investment Treaties: Treaty Provisions and Claims
Understanding Treaty Provisions and Claims in Investment Treaties
Investment treaties stand as silent sentinels, shaping the flow of global finance and safeguarding foreign direct investment against unpredictable risks and geopolitical whims.
These complex bilateral investment treaty agreements, woven with clauses that span from...
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ICSID Procedure: How to File for Arbitration Without Fear of Rejection
The ICSID procedure is the most consequential path an investor can take against a state, and the most misunderstood. ICSID, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, is part of the World Bank Group in Washington, DC. It was created by the 1965 ICSID Convention, which more than...
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Bifurcation in ISDS: How Tribunals Split Investor-State Proceedings
Investor-state tribunals rarely decide everything at once. Bifurcation in ISDS — splitting a case into separate phases — lets a tribunal resolve jurisdiction before the merits, or liability before damages. For respondent states, it offers a chance to end an expensive case early. For investors, it can mean serious delay. This article...
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Oil and Gas: Key legal challenges
The Key Legal Challenges in Oil and Gas
Few industries carry more legal exposure than oil and gas. Projects run for decades, cross borders, depend on government concessions, and operate under some of the world's strictest environmental rules. When something shifts — a regulation, a royalty...
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Dispute Resolution Through an Arbitration Clause in Contracts
Effective dispute resolution starts long before a disagreement arises. It starts with the contract itself. The arbitration clause, often called the midnight clause because parties leave it to the end of negotiations, determines where, how, and by whom a future dispute will be decided. However, a rushed clause can cost a party...
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Filing for Arbitration: Step-by-step guide
Step-by-Step Guide to Filing for Arbitration
Filing for arbitration is the formal step that turns a dispute into a case. Most parties arrive here through an arbitration clause: they agreed, often years earlier, that disagreements would go to an arbitral tribunal rather than a court. When...
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