Laws, treaties and soft law

The Australian government has announced it is reviewing the country’s bilateral investment treaties and has invited submissions from interested parties.

02 September 2020

Singapore’s Ministry of Law has tabled amendments to the city-state’s international arbitration law that would introduce a default mode for appointment of arbitrators in multi-party disputes and strengthen powers to enforce confidentiality obligations.

02 September 2020

A working group made up of lawyers from Herbert Smith Freehills, Ashurst, CMS, DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells and Latham & Watkins has released a draft protocol for online case management in international arbitration.

09 July 2020

As the EU opens a public consultation on intra-EU investment protection, Paschalis Paschalidis of Shearman & Sterling argues that investors and other stakeholders should seize the opportunity to put forward constructive criticisms of the existing EU legal framework and suggest potential improvements.

08 July 2020

The Singapore International Arbitration Centre has begun the latest review of its arbitration rules, saying it will consider revisions dealing with consolidation, expedited procedures, challenges and new technology.

07 July 2020

The Swiss parliament has approved the text of a revised international arbitration law, which makes English an admissible language for the filing of arbitration-related submissions before its top court in a bid to further enhance the country's popularity as an arbitral seat.

19 June 2020

The UK has released the draft working text of its free trade agreement with the European Union – which does not appear to contain any mechanism for investor-state dispute settlement.

19 May 2020

Two years after the Achmea ruling, a majority of EU member states have signed an agreement to terminate their intra-EU bilateral investment treaties, in what has been called the end of an era for investor-state arbitration in Europe.

06 May 2020

ICSID and UNCITRAL have released a long-awaited draft code of conduct for adjudicators in investment disputes – including proposals on double hatting, limitations on the number of cases that can be heard simultaneously and sanctions for unethical behaviour.

01 May 2020

Canada has become the final country to ratify the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, USMCA, after the state’s parliament rushed through legislation before a three-week closure to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

20 March 2020