Topic: ISDS reform
European exodus from the ECT: politics and unintended consequences
Guillermo Garcia-Perrote and Ella Wisniewski of Herbert Smith Freehills in Australia consider the politics and unintended consequences of the recent exodus of European states from the Energy Charter Treaty and ask what it means for the transition from fossil fuel.
15 November 2022
Slovenia joins European exodus from ECT
Slovenia has become the latest EU member state to announce it is withdrawing from the Energy Charter Treaty, as Switzerland confirms it will vote to adopt modernisations to the treaty.
10 November 2022
Norway and Latvia move to terminate BIT
As oral hearings take place in a €400 million snow-crab fishing dispute under the Latvia-Norway bilateral investment treaty, the two states have moved to terminate the BIT and its ten-year sunset clause.
10 November 2022
Rockhopper v Italy award now public
A high-profile Energy Charter Treaty award requiring Italy to pay €190 million plus interest to a UK oil and gas company over a ban on offshore drilling is now publicly available.
08 November 2022
Freshfields Lecture: The Road Not Taken
Inspired by Robert Frost's famous poem on the divergence of paths in a yellow wood, Andrea Bjorklund considered the roads not taken in investor-state dispute resolution in the first live Freshfields Lecture since the pandemic, held in impressive new surroundings.
08 November 2022
France joins rush to exit ECT
France is the latest European country to announce it is pulling out of the Energy Charter Treaty because of environmental concerns, following similar moves by the Netherlands and Spain.
24 October 2022
Spain announces withdrawal from ECT
Spain says it is withdrawing from the Energy Charter Treaty because of climate concerns, a week after the lower chamber of Poland’s parliament voted near-unanimously to exit the treaty.
13 October 2022
“Zero legitimacy”: investment court under fire at ICCA
A session on ISDS reform at the ICCA Congress heard criticism of plans for a multilateral investment court and shed light on recent discussions at UNCITRAL, including a “rebellion” by some developed states against a proposal to curb double hatting.
26 September 2022
Poland moves to exit ECT
The Polish government has prepared draft legislation to withdraw the country from the Energy Charter Treaty, citing the need to comply with EU law and a lack of progress in efforts to modernise the treaty.
02 September 2022
How Italy’s ban on offshore drilling fell foul of the Energy Charter Treaty
EXCLUSIVE: GAR unpacks how Italy’s decision to ban offshore drilling near its coastline led to the state being ordered to pay more than €190 million plus interest to a UK company for breaching the Energy Charter Treaty.
26 August 2022