Last August, an ICSID tribunal handed down its much-anticipated ECT-based award in the dispute between Rockhopper, a British oil and gas company, and the Italian Republic. Rockhopper had been denied a licence to exploit an offshore oilfield, due to legislation banning oil production concessions within a certain distance from the coastline. The ban was adopted as a result…

One of the most noticeable facts in recent ISDS is the spectacular inflation of compensation awarded to investors. The overall increase in the amounts is well documented. Of the (now more than) 50 known awards in excess of USD 100 million, none was rendered before 2000 and only 11 before 2010. What is most attention-grabbing, however,…