Law Commons^™

Foreign Investor Protection And Climate Action: A New Price Tag For Urgent Policies, Gus Van Harten

Gus Van Harten

From a climate perspective, not all investment is equal. Desirable investment in clean energy needs encouragement and protection, while undesirable investment in fossil fuels needs clear policy signals to avoid further investment in destructive activities and stranding more assets. In this paper, evidence is presented on how foreign investor protection provisions in trade and investment agreements tilt the playing field in favor of entrenched incumbents and against urgent action on climate; on the potential for a massive expansion of investor-state litigation and risks to climate policy in proposed trade deals; and on key flaws in recent European Commission proposals to …

Repsol, Ypf, And Argentina: A Hypothetical Look At The Pending Icsid Arbitration Over Ypf, Stephen Pelliccia

Stephen Pelliccia

In this paper I will discuss the 2012 expropriation of the Repsol subsidiary, YPF S.A., by the Argentine government and the upcoming ICSID arbitration on the legality thereof. Taking in to account basic tenets of international arbitration law, bilateral investment treaties, and ICSID jurisprudence, I will put forward some of the principal arguments of both parties could make and discuss a likely decision by the ICSID Tribunal. In addition to the ICSID award I will also discuss the difficulties of enforcing ICSID and other arbitral awards against Argentina and will discuss Latin American attitudes towards ICSID in general. Keeping in …

The Law Merchant-Redux, Art Gemmell Dr.

art gemmell

The Lex Mercatoria- Redux Arthur J. Gemmell and Autumn Talbott* ABSTRACT

The lex mercatoria developed as merchant-made, private law. Unlike other bodies of law, the lex mercatoria was not born of statutory or “natural” law but from practical, day-to-day commercial usage. In fact, medieval commercial activities propagated the “most favorable trading practices and customs of the various foreign markets within which [merchants] did business.”

What evolved in the Middle Ages out of necessity stands today as a sometimes controversial testimony to the power of self-regulation through a specialized and practical body of law: the lex mercatoria that has for centuries …

Double Protection: The Case Against The "Byrd Amendment" Of U.S. Trade Law, Perry S. Bechky, Anne Macgregor

Perry S. Bechky

Under the Byrd Amendment of 2000, all collected antidumping and countervailing duties must be distributed among U.S. companies that successfully petition for the imposition of those duties. The Byrd Amendment created an economic incentive for the proliferation of trade cases. A strong legal case can be made that the Byrd Amendment is inconsistent with WTO rules.