Investment Treaty Forum Policy Discussion

Training Course on International Investment Agreements

(Central and South America and the Caribbean)

The Investment Treaty Forum has taken part in a Training Course on International Investment Agreements, which took place over two sessions (28 June-6 July and 13-17 August 2007) in Santiago, Chile. Read the full report by Dr Federico Ortino.

Review of UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules

"The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is in the process of reviewing the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. The UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules (the Rules) are widely used in commercial disputes and they feature prominently in several investment treaties, notably bilateral investment treaties and the Energy Charter Treaty. The Rules are being reviewed for the first time since their adoption in 1976. The mandate given to the Working Group tasked with reviewing the Rules is that the revision should not alter the structure of the existing text, its spirit or drafting style and that it should respect the flexibility of the text and not make it overly complex." Read the full report by Forum Member, Sophie Nappert, Denton Wilde Sapte LLP.

UNCTAD Monitor on dispute settlement (December, 2006)

UNCTAD has published IIA Monitor No. 4 (2006) on the Latest Developments in Investor-State Dispute Settlement. The Monitor is based on a draft prepared by Dr Federico Ortino and includes some trends and analysis of data (focusing on new disputes registered in 2006) and recent decisions with significant implications for the relevant stakeholders. The 2005 issue was based on Luke Peterson's draft.

The ASIL 100th Annual Conference

In 2005 the Forum answered a call for panel submission for the American Society of International Law's 100th Annual Conference in March 2006 and submitted a proposal for a panel on Fair and Equitable Treatment. Employing the FET standard as a case-study into the institutional, legal and procedural dimensions of the emerging regime for foreign direct investment, the panelists explored the potential challenges to the system and the opportunities for improvement tackling the underlying question of whether the emerging legal regime for foreign direct investment is indeed just for both private and public interests. The ASIL Annual Meeting Program Committee accepted the proposal, and a number of the Forum's members (including Professor Vaughan Lowe, Andrea Menaker and Howard Mann) sat on the panel.

Suggested Changes to the ICSID Rules and Regulations

On 12 May 2005 the ICSID Secretariat released a Working Paper on Suggested Changes to the ICSID Rules and Regulations. This Working Paper is a follow up to the Secretariat's Discussion Paper of October 22, 2004, on possible improvements of the framework for ICSID arbitration. The suggested changes concern preliminary procedures, publication of awards, access of third parties to proceedings, and disclosure requirements and fees of arbitrators.

The Forum invited comments from its members on this proposal. Once obtained, the Forum prepared and submitted to the ICSID a formal response on 30 June 2005. The new Rules and Regulations have been effective from 10 April 2006 and are available at http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/.

Roundtable on Investment and Sustainable Development

In January 2005, the ITF hosted, in conjunction with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and Chatham House, a roundtable entitled Investment and Sustainable Development: Towards a New Model Investment Agreement. The focus of the roundtable was the IISD Model Investment Agreement which was presented by Konrad von Moltke and Howard Mann.