Public International Law Notes

Advocate General finds that CETA's "Investment Court System" is compatible with EU law

CJEU upholds opinion of Advocate General and rules that UK can unilaterally cancel Brexit by revoking Article 50

In a landmark decision delivered on an accelerated timetable, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") has ruled that a Member State can …

Energy Charter Declaration 2018 – Modernisation of the ECT

The Energy Charter Conference has issued a declaration following the 29th meeting of its Members. This year's conference, hosted by Romania, focused on …

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to come into force on 30th December

Australia has become the 6th country to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade deal between 11 …

Brexit: dispute resolution between the EU and the UK, under the withdrawal agreement and in the event that there is "no deal"

At a critical time in the Brexit negotiations, in the latest podcast on the Herbert Smith Freehills Podcast channel, Andrew Cannon and Hannah Ambrose …

State to state dispute resolution in the UK Government's White Paper: arbitration with a potential role for the CJEU

The White Paper published yesterday, "The Future Relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union", includes the UK Government's proposal …

The new draft Dutch BIT: what does it mean for investor mailbox companies?

The Netherlands has released a new draft investment treaty for public comment ("Draft BIT").  If adopted, the Draft BIT may raise questions about …

EU – Japan EPA presented to the European Council, ratification begins

On 18 April 2018 the European Commission (the "Commission") presented the finalised text of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement ("EPA") to the …

Update on the future of ISDS: the discussions within UNCITRAL Working Group III – no apparent consensus to date

After a number of years of public debate in a variety of fora, the discussion of the future development of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) has …

EU Council publishes Negotiating Directives for Convention establishing a Multilateral Investment Court: no real surprises but a couple of gaps

On 20 March, 2018 the Council of the European Union published negotiating directives dated 1 March 2018 authorizing the European Commission to negotiate …

North American trade and investment developments: No new NAFTA (for now), and Mexico signs the ICSID Convention

One month into 2018, the future of NAFTA continues to hang in the balance. The negotiating parties will reportedly convene in Ottawa for the sixth of …

A Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

Key points The ministers responsible for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) of 11 countries have announced that the core elements of a Comprehensive …