Investor-State Arbitration Tribunals

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When Reinforced Self-Judgment Meets Judicial Review: Insights from Seda v. Colombia

September 10, 2024

On 27 June 2024, the tribunal in the investment dispute Seda v Colombia delivered a long-awaited award. The decision, hailed by Colombia as ‘historic’, represents the first publicly available award where an investment tribunal accepted the ‘self-judging’ character of a provision within an investment agreement. Additionally, it is the first public award to dismiss an entire claim based on the invocation of a security exception (though see the partially successful invocation in Devas v India and the unpublished Tenoch v India). After briefly outlining the facts, this post analyses the tribunal’s detailed engagement with the issue of self-judgment. It argues that a lasting significance of the award will lie in the fact that the tribunal conducted any review at all, despite the provision being framed as what I describe as a ‘reinforced self-judgment’ clause.

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How a documentary film can help UNCITRAL Working Group III think through ISDS reform

April 10, 2024

As states explore options to reform investment treaties and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), they can draw on a growing body of grounded perspectives about how the system works in practice and how it is experienced by those involved in or affected by investment disputes. The Tribunal, a documentary film directed by Malcolm Rogge in collaboration…

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UNCITRAL and ISDS Reform: Lifelong Learning

November 23, 2023

How many International Investment Disputes have there been since 1973? How many International Investment Disputes are ongoing now? We do not know. There is no authoritative count. How many treaty-based awards issued by arbitral tribunals since 2000 are not publicly available? Again, nothing authoritative can be said except that a sizeable percentage of such awards are not available.

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UNCITRAL and ISDS Reform: Moving to the Delivery Phase

November 22, 2023

The investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform process underway in UNCITRAL Working Group III has entered the delivery phase. The first four reform products were delivered in July 2023, when they were adopted by the UNCITRAL Commission. The Working Group plans to deliver more reform products – an advisory centre and possibly also guidelines on dispute prevention – to…

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The Mandate Conundrum: Reflections on the 46th Session of the UNCITRAL Working Group III on ISDS Reform

November 21, 2023

The UNCITRAL Working Group III convened in Vienna between 9 and 13 October 2023 for its 46th session to discuss the establishment of an advisory centre on international investment law, which would be tasked to provide legal and technical assistance in connection with investor-State disputes. In addition, it would tackle a number of…

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