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Full-Text Articles in International Law

Compelling Parties To Mediate Investor-State Disputes: No Pressure, No Diamonds?, James M. Claxton Apr 2020

Compelling Parties To Mediate Investor-State Disputes: No Pressure, No Diamonds?, James M. Claxton

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

There was nothing preordained about arbitration becoming shorthand for investor-state dispute settlement. The ICSID system was built on the assumption that disputing parties would choose conciliation to settle their disputes. Those expectations went unrealized as arbitration rose to prominence, and since that time institutions, parties, and academics have observed that facilitated negotiation could play a greater role in resolving investor-state disputes. A number of domestic court systems have made mediation part of the fabric of dispute resolution through incentives and compulsions to mediate. Drawing on this experience, this manuscript considers how obstacles to the uptake of investor-state mediation might be …


Consenting To Counterclaims Under The Icsid Convention, Harshad Pathak May 2019

Consenting To Counterclaims Under The Icsid Convention, Harshad Pathak

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Counterclaims in investment treaty arbitration hold immense significance. Counterclaims have the potential to nullify biases and bolster the confidence of States in investment treaty arbitration. That being said, the multitude of jurisdictional hurdles faced by counterclaims under the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention) risk dampening the aforementioned potential. It is two of these hurdles emanating from the consensual nature of arbitration that I address herein. Part II of this article commences by analyzing the provisions of the ICSID Convention to derive the prerequisites of a valid counterclaim in investment …


Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reconceptionalized: Regulation Of Disputes, Standards And Mediation, M. R. Dahlan, Wolf Von Kumberg May 2018

Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reconceptionalized: Regulation Of Disputes, Standards And Mediation, M. R. Dahlan, Wolf Von Kumberg

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This paper argues that the current criticisms of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) are ill-informed, and attempts at reforming the system are misguided. The definition of ISDS itself has been, for a long time, limited to investment quasi-judicial bodies or at best arbitration. Analysis of the roots of the ever growing backlash reveals that the main causes for concern are politically negotiated investment treaties, an inherently biased system, lack of transparency, and inconsistent decision-making. Examination of the core reasons behind these complaints leads to the conclusion that the EU Commission’s solution to reform ISDS through a permanent court raises more issues …


The Cyprus Banking Haircut And Human Rights, The Way To Go?, Venetia Argyropoulou May 2018

The Cyprus Banking Haircut And Human Rights, The Way To Go?, Venetia Argyropoulou

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The Cyprus Banking Haircut of 2013 (Cyprus Haircut or Haircut) was unprecedented and had devastating implications for investors. However, more than four years after the Cyprus Haircut of 2013, account holders and shareholders in Cyprus’ two largest banks at the time—Bank of Cyprus and Cyprus Popular Bank—still do not have any available recourse for their losses. Indeed, despite account holders having resorted to national courts in the Republic of Cyprus, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and international tribunals, such as the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Despite making human rights’ claims in all …


The Path Towards Defining “Investment” In Icsid Investor-State Arbitrations: The Open-Ended Approach, Melissa María Valdez García Jan 2018

The Path Towards Defining “Investment” In Icsid Investor-State Arbitrations: The Open-Ended Approach, Melissa María Valdez García

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Article 25 of the International Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes left the notion of “investment” intentionally undefined, thus leaving its interpretation in the hands of arbitration tribunals, which has led to inconsistencies, confusion and debate regarding the true essence of what may appear as a routine concept. This article tries to explain that the proper meaning of “investment” under the Convention must be clarified not only by discussing the drafting history of the Convention, but by also examining doctrinal tendencies, key aspects of corresponding arbitration awards and customary international law and argues that arbitration tribunals should show strong …


Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reconceptionalized: Regulation Of Disputes, Standards And Mediation, M. R. Dahlan, Wolf Von Kumberg Oct 2017

Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reconceptionalized: Regulation Of Disputes, Standards And Mediation, M. R. Dahlan, Wolf Von Kumberg

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This paper argues that the current criticisms of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) are ill-informed, and attempts at reforming the system are misguided. The definition of ISDS itself has been, for a long time, limited to investment quasi-judicial bodies or at best arbitration. Analysis of the roots of the ever growing backlash reveals that the main causes for concern are politically negotiated investment treaties, an inherently biased system, lack of transparency, and inconsistent decision-making. Examination of the core reasons behind these complaints leads to the conclusion that the EU Commission’s solution to reform ISDS through a permanent court raises more issues …