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Columbia FDI Perspectives
Perspectives on topical foreign direct investment issues
No. 145 April 13, 2015
Editor-in-Chief: Karl P. Sauvant ([log in to unmask])
Managing Editor: Adrian P. Torres ([log in to unmask])
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Toward
arbitration between subnational units and foreign investors?
by
Charles-Emmanuel Côté*
The ICSID Convention has envisaged arbitration between subnational units and foreign investors since its inception in 1966: Article 25(1) allows a contracting state to designate its constituent subdivisions that may consent to arbitration by the International
Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) with a national of another contracting state. Their consent is conditioned by Article 25(3), requiring the approval of the contracting state on a case-by-case basis, unless this condition is waived. Because
subnational units have extensive regulatory powers that can even be exclusive and constitutionally entrenched, as in the case of federated entities, the potential for investment disputes is not insignificant.
Australia is so far the only federal state to have designated all of its federated entities to ICSID. The other designations were made by the United Kingdom for the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and the British Overseas Territories, and more recently by
Indonesia for the Government of the Regency of East Kutai. None of these subnational units were ever party to ICSID arbitration.
The recent ratification of the ICSID Convention by Canada could, however, trigger the emergence of arbitration between subnational units and foreign investors. Claims are increasingly being brought under NAFTA Chapter 11 against measures adopted by Canadian
provinces. After the amicable settlement in AbitibiBowater Inc. v.
Canada,[1] Prime Minister Stephen Harper voiced his discontent over the federal government having to pay
for unlawful provincial measures. If designation of Australian states was inconsequential, designation of Canadian provinces could bring international investment law into unchartered territory. There are good indications that Ottawa would be open to designate
willing provinces, such as Quebec.
A few cases did involve undesignated subnational units, but they never proceeded to the merits. The sole conclusion to be drawn from them is that a clear designation to ICSID is vital for the arbitral tribunal to have jurisdiction. In
Cable Television of Nevis, Ltd.
v. St. Kitts and Nevis,[2] the claimant unsuccessfully attempted to bring a complaint against
the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis on the basis of an ICSID clause in the investment contract it had concluded with the Island of Nevis.
Therefore, most of the legal issues involved in arbitration between subnational units and foreign investors remain unexplored. This new type of dispute raises a complex nexus of consents to arbitration and legal obligations. First, the general rules of customary
international law should remain fully applicable regarding the responsibility of the state for the acts of its subnational units. Designation of subnational units should not be construed as alleviating the international responsibility of the contracting state.
Nor should it alter the consent of the contracting state to ICSID arbitration. Instead, it should be a means of adding new parties to ICSID arbitration.
Contract-based claims against subnational measures could now be opened to ICSID arbitration in cases where a contracting state cannot be held responsible in the absence of any treaty violation.[3]
But designation also raises the question of whether ICSID arbitration would be opened to treaty-based claims directly against subnational units. Could the consent of subnational units to arbitration be derived from the treaty and their designation to ICSID?
Could subnational units consent to treaty-based arbitration? Could separate claims be brought against a subnational unit and the contracting state to which it belongs? Could they be both party to the same arbitration? Similar questions were recently addressed
in the new European Union (EU) regulation allocating procedural and financial responsibilities between the EU and member states in investment arbitration.[4]
Beyond these legal intricacies, arbitration between subnational units and foreign investors raises policy issues going to the heart of the international investment regime. On the one hand, it could be seen as a step too far in the fragmentation of international
investment law. Contracting states would lose control of the settlement of investment disputes, and of the application of their treaties and customary international law. On the other hand, it would seem to be consistent with ICSID’s overarching goal of depoliticizing
investment disputes. It would put the foreign investor and the author of the impugned measure face-to-face. Damages and arbitration costs could be borne, at least in part, by the losing subnational unit. It would ensure greater accountability for subnational
units regarding their breach of international law, which in turn could entail better implementation of investment treaties.
*
Charles-Emmanuel Côté ([log in to unmask]) is Vice Dean and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law of Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada. The author
is grateful to Jurgen Kurtz, August Reinisch and Anthony VanDuzer for their helpful peer-review comments.
The views expressed by the author of this
Perspective do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Columbia University or its partners and supporters.
Columbia FDI Perspectives (ISSN 2158-3579) is a peer-reviewed series.
[2]
ICSID Case No. ARB/95/2, Award, ¶¶ 2.22-2. 33 (Jan. 13, 1997), 13 ICSID Rev. 328 (1998).
See also Province of East Kalimantan v.
PT Kaltim Prima Coal, ICSID Case No. ARB/07/3, Award on Jurisdiction, ¶¶ 191-202 (December 28, 2009).
[3]
See Salini Costruttori SpA
v. Morocco, ICSID Case No. ARB/00/4, Decision on Jurisdiction, ¶¶ 60-62 (July 23, 2001), 6 ICSID Rep. 400 (2004).
[4]
“Regulation (EU) No 912/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for managing financial responsibility linked to investor-to-state dispute settlement tribunals established by international agreements to which
the European Union is party”, Official Journal of the European Union, L 257, August 28, 2014, p. 121, available at
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2014:257:FULL&from=EN
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The material in this Perspective may be reprinted if accompanied by the following acknowledgment: “Charles-Emmanuel
Côté, ‘Toward arbitration between subnational units and foreign investors?,’ Columbia FDI Perspectives, No. 145, April 13, 2015. Reprinted with permission from the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (www.ccsi.columbia.edu).”
A copy should kindly be sent to the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment at
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For further information, including information regarding submission to the
Perspectives, please contact: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Adrian Torres,
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Most
recent Columbia FDI Perspectives
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All previous
FDI Perspectives
are available at http://ccsi.columbia.edu/publications/columbia-fdi-perspectives/.
Other relevant CCSI news and announcements:
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On April 15, 2015, The Minister of Finance of Norway, Siv Jensen,
will talk about the management of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, with an emphasis on sustainable and ethical investing policies. The talk, with an introduction by Dean Gillian Lester, is sponsored by CCSI along with the The
Tamer Social Enterprise Program at Columbia Business School and the Center
on Global Economic Governance in the School of International and Public Affairs. The talk, followed
by a Q&A, will be held in room 1501, International Affairs Building (School of International and Public Affairs), from 10-11:30am.
Registration is free, but required. To register, please
go here. For more information, please visit our
website.
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On April 20, 2015,
CCSI and the Center
on Global Economic Governance will co-sponsor “The EU Growth Challenge and the Investment Plan for Europe.”
Debora Revoltella, Chief Economist of the European Investment Bank, will present the need for an investment plan for Europe, focusing on competitiveness enhancing investments. Her analysis will focus on research within the European Investment Bank and how
this research inspired the development of the EU Investment Plan – the Juncker Plan. The talk will be held at Columbia Law School, Jerome Greene Hall, Room 107, from 6-7:30pm.
Registration is free, but required. To register, please go here.
For more information, please visit our
website.
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On April 21, 2015, CCSI will host “EU
External Investment Policy: Review of the First Five Years and Future Prospects for T-TIP and Beyond.” Colin Brown, from the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission, will discuss the EU’s experiences thus far, and also provide insights
as to what may lie ahead. The talk will take place at Columbia Law School, Jerome Greene Annex, from 6:30-8:00pm.
Registration is free, but required. To register, please go here.
For more information, please visit our
website.
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On July 13-17, 2015, CCSI will host its first Executive
Training on Investment Arbitration for Government Officials at Columbia University. Through an intensive week-long course, government officials involved in managing investment treaty disputes or negotiating investment treaties will increase their
knowledge of crucial procedural and substantive aspects of investment law. Sessions will be taught by leading academics and practitioners and will be tailored to uniquely address issues relevant to governments. For
more information about the program, please download the 2015 Executive Training Brochure here and application here.
The application deadline to be considered for admission is April 15, 2015.
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Karl P. Sauvant, Ph.D.
Resident Senior Fellow
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Columbia Law School - Earth Institute
Ph: (212) 854-0689
Fax: (212) 854-7946
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