As 2025 gets underway, Womble Bond Dickinson has been taking stock of the major international arbitration developments from last year that are likely to affect our clients with international business. In 2024, we saw...more
On October 25, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) released its 2024 Annual Report, which highlights significant trends and statistics in ICSID’s cases during the fiscal year ending on June...more
In a significant recent decision in Infrastructure Services v Spain; Border Timbers v Zimbabwe, arising out of two separate English proceedings seeking the recognition and enforcement of ICSID arbitration awards rendered...more
The English Court of Appeal has rejected Spain’s and Zimbabwe’s appeals against orders registering arbitration awards made against them pursuant to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and...more
On 23 July 2024, a distinguished international arbitral tribunal issued a significant decision on provisional measures in Klesch Group and Raffinerie Heide v. Germany (ICSID Case No. ARB/23/49). The three arbitrators – Mr....more
Two ICSID tribunals have recently upheld Spain’s intra-European Union (EU) jurisdictional objections in two arbitrations pursuant to the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”). Both cases arise out of Spain’s decision to modify its...more
The Chilean Congress is currently considering a legislative proposal introduced by the Chilean Government aimed at subsidizing electricity costs for approximately 4.7 million households. The proposed bill introduces a...more
The EU and Euratom will withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty with Member States to support modernisation in the future. The European Council has adopted four decisions, confirming that the EU and Euratom will leave the...more
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is a multi-nation investment treaty which protects investors from the nationalization of assets and other arbitrary and discriminatory state conduct made at the expense of investments in the...more
The Energy Charter Treaty and the Protocol were signed in December 1994 to promote international investment in the energy sector. On 16 April 2024, Spain gave written notice of its decision to withdraw from the ECT and on 14...more
On 22 February 2024, the UK announced it is withdrawing from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) on the basis that it is incompatible with the energy transition, being the 11th state to do so. However, ECT protections for...more
On 22 February 2024, the UK government confirmed the UK’s withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), blaming a failure of efforts to modernise the treaty and align it with net zero aims. The UK joins nine EU member...more
On 22 February 2024, the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) announced that the UK would withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) after a recent failed attempt to modernise its text....more
As of January 2024, France, Germany and Poland have officially withdrawn from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). Their decision to withdraw from the treaty follows a recent European Commission proposal for a mass exodus from...more
The UK has announced that it will review its membership of the Energy Charter Treaty (the “ECT” or “Treaty”) if there is no agreement on modernisation by November 2023. This announcement comes after a second vote on...more
On November 18, 2022, Luxembourg became the seventh country to announce plans to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), following in the footsteps of Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Slovenia, and Germany. ...more
For over two decades, investors in the energy sector have benefited from protections found in The Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”). Investors in hydrogen projects will soon be able to benefit from these same protections....more
On 22 November 2022, the Energy Charter Conference is expected to vote on the proposed modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty (the “ECT” or the “Treaty”), following an agreement in principle reached on 24 June 2022, after...more
In June 2022, the Contracting Parties to the Energy Charter Treaty ("ECT") announced an agreement in principle on the text of a modernized treaty. This modernization may have material consequences for state regulation and...more
The tribunal in Green Power v. Kingdom of Spain declined jurisdiction, finding that the parties had not validly consented to arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty. A tribunal seated in Sweden has become the first...more
On June 24, 2022, the Contracting Parties to the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT” or “Treaty”) reached an Agreement in Principle on the Modernization of the ECT (“Modernization Agreement”). Once approved at the Energy Charter...more
As climate change and energy transition play an increasingly important role in the decision-making of private and government entities, one issue is bound to become the focus of attention: Is there a potential conflict between...more
Since the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, more than 400 international companies have announced their intentions to scale back or shut down their business operations in Russia. Russia has responded to the exodus of...more
In a judgment handed down on 2 September 2021,1 the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) finally ruled that the investor-state arbitration clause, at Article 26 of the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”), does not apply to intra-EU...more
The last few weeks have seen a raft of new investor-state arbitrations under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), including the first known investor-state claim against the European Union (EU) itself. These claims largely arise...more