Opting Out of ICSID and BITs: Legal and Economic Effects
The purpose of this article was initially to review the countries that had left ICSID, terminated BITs, or refused to enter into ICSID or to conclude BITs, to determine the reasons and mechanisms behind their decisions, and finally to ascertain whether these decisions made sense from an economic point of view. The focus was in particular on the South American countries and Australia.
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The EU Parliament proposes a regulation for financial responsibility for EU-linked investor-state dispute settlement
This proposed regulation aims at clarifying the division of competence for financial responsibility between the Union and Members States when the Union or a Member State is sued by an non EU-investor in the context of investor-state dispute settlement proceedings. Following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, foreign direct investment is included in the EU common commercial policy. Of particular importance is the Parliament’s acknowledgement of the current uncertainty relating to the inclusion of investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms in Treaties negotiated by the EU.
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Invalidity of arbitration agreement when lack of choice to refuse it
On 28 February 2014, the Regional Court of Munich rendered a decision in the matter opposing German speed skater Claudia Pechstein to the ISU (Judgment of the Regional Court of Munich I, Case Number 37 O 28331/12; the judgment is not final). This decision is sending waves through the sports arbitration community.
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