This blog post ventures preliminary views on current critiques about ICSID annulments, and sketches out a few ideas that may merit further exploration. Some recent annulment decisions questioned ICSID awards but did not annul them because the high standard for annulment was not met. There are states and investors who now worry that should they lose an ICSID arbitration, the…
Moldova Ratifies the ICSID Convention Having signed the ICSID Convention on August 12, 1992, the Republic of Moldova deposited with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank) an Instrument of Ratification of the Convention on May 5, 2011. On its ratification of the Convention, Moldova notified the depositary (the World Bank)as follows: "Following Article 70 of the…
Although many arbitration awards are voluntarily complied, enforcement of arbitration awards is a current challenge in international arbitration. Saipem S.p.A. v. The People’s Republic of Bangladesh1 (“Saipem v. Bangladesh”) apparently creates a new tier of protection when foreign investors are affected by the actions of a host country’s judiciary system. This might be an interesting trend, especially for those foreign…
Little-known by most and virtually ignored by others, the U.S.-Oman free trade agreement is garnering the attention of at least one American. A Boston businessman is set to file the first-ever investment arbitration case under the bilateral trade pact. Adel A Hamadi Al Tamimi, owner of two mining companies, claims that his investment in two limestone mining operations in the…
A hearing in the above case will be transmitted live via internet feed from 9:00 a.m. on Monday, May 2, 2011 through 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday May 4, 2011. The case concerns a mining enterprise in the Republic of El Salvador. Procedural details of the case are available here. The live streaming is being made available pursuant to Article 10.21.2…
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday accorded assent to a law aimed at reassuring foreign investors about security of their investments in Pakistan. The Arbitration (International Investment Disputes) Bill, 2011 was passed by National Assembly on November 5 last year while the Senate passed it on April 1. The President made the bill into a law, with his signatures…
Introduction Four tribunals composed of leading arbitrators have brought to life an unusual rule adopted by the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) in 2006 that allows respondent states to seek early dismissal of unmeritorious claims.[1] The first two cases clarified key parts of the rule, although the disputed claims were not dismissed. More recently, two tribunals for the…
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