Practical Law

On 27 July 2018, the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in Viorel Micula and others v Romania and European Commission (Intervener). It maintained the stay of enforcement granted by Blair J in the High Court, but overturned his decision on security, ordering that Romania should provide £150 million as a term of the stay … Continue reading Micula enforcement before the Court of Appeal: striking a balance between the UK’s obligations under the ICSID Convention on the one hand, and its duties under EU law on the other? →

Climate change has emerged as a (if not “the”) relevant factor in a number of high-profile litigation disputes in recent years. Those disputes range from the commercial to the personal, to the public interest: from disputes arising out of option agreements for the trade of the old system of “emission reduction units”, to cases dealing with … Continue reading What role will arbitration have in future disputes involving climate change? →

In what appears to be a first for the English courts, the decision in GPF Gp S.á.r.l v Republic of Poland overturned parts of an award on jurisdiction in an investment treaty arbitration, finding the tribunal had erred in finding no jurisdiction. The claims have been sent back to the same tribunal for continuation towards the … Continue reading A clash of national and international law? Examining the approach of the English High Court in GPF v Poland →

Brazil’s experience with investment agreements stands in sharp contrast to that of other countries. At a time when most states were promoting them, Brazil declined to do so. For this reason, the government’s recent promotion of cooperation and facilitation investment agreements (CFIAs) is of some interest. This blog post discusses the context in which CFIAs … Continue reading Trends in investment treaty arbitration: a perspective on Brazil →

What standard of review is appropriate when a court is seised with a challenge to an award on jurisdiction? Should the answer be any different when the court is addressing an investment treaty award rather than a commercial award? This blog post addresses two recent decisions by the courts in Singapore and Switzerland, which have … Continue reading Challenges to treaty awards on jurisdiction in the national courts: what is the appropriate standard of review? →

The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is entering a new era. That is, who is being sued and what types of energy sources those claims relate to, has evolved from what was originally contemplated by its drafters in the early 1990s. That trajectory is set to continue as the significant amount of renewable ECT claims registered … Continue reading The Energy Charter Treaty: new energy, new era →