Work Area: Sovereign immunity

The Paris Court of Appeal has allowed a Dutch supplier of night vision goggles to seize funds belonging to Iraq’s second-largest bank to satisfy a pair of ICC awards issued against Iraqi ministries two decades ago.

07 August 2023

A UK appeal court has affirmed that a judge who granted ex parte enforcement of an investment treaty award against Nigeria did not have to undertake further investigation of sovereign immunity issues in circumstances where the state missed a deadline to challenge the order.

25 July 2023

A UK court has ruled for the first time that Spain cannot avoid enforcement of an ICSID award by invoking EU law prohibitions on intra-EU investment arbitration.

25 May 2023

A Florida-based renewable energy group is the latest of Spain’s ICSID creditors to seek enforcement in the Australian courts.

17 May 2023

A panel at London International Disputes Week considered the mechanisms available to parties seeking compensation for damages suffered as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

16 May 2023

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has rejected a bid to attach assets belonging to Spain, affirming that an ICSID award holder targeting a foreign state’s assets must demonstrate the matter has a “sufficient domestic connection” to Switzerland.

03 May 2023

Australia’s highest court has affirmed that Spain cannot invoke sovereign immunity to avoid the recognition and enforcement of a €101 million ICSID award – and that the European Court of Justice’s prohibition against intra-EU investment arbitration is irrelevant to this question.

12 April 2023

Spain’s quixotic battle with renewable energy creditors has taken a new turn as an award holder freezes state assets including the London premises of the country’s language and cultural centre, the Cervantes Institute.

06 April 2023

A split tribunal has refused to hear a US$170 million treaty claim brought against China by a Singaporean investor whose phosphate mining activities were curtailed to make way for a panda reserve.

28 February 2023

Luxembourg assets belonging to Malaysia’s national oil company have been frozen for a second time at the request of Philippine nationals seeking to enforce a US$15 billion award against the Asian state.

16 February 2023