Investor-State Dispute Settlement
July 13, 2020: In a blunt statement issued on July 6, 2020, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, and Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, Myanmar, added their names to a statement by 110 Catholic Bishops calling on governments to better regulate private corporations, and said the European Union must lead the way.
July 7, 2020: Prairie Mining, an Australian company using third-party funding from another Australian company, Litigation Capital Management, has announced an investment treaty claim against Poland over the obstruction of two coal projects. An LCM subsidiary in London has provided A$18 million to finance the action. LCM will get a profitable investment return if Prairie Mining wins the case.
You can view here the video of the AFTINET webinar: The pandemic is exposing flaws in global trade policy: what should post-pandemic trade policy look like?
July 1, 2020: AFTINET's submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade inquiry into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is here.
These collectors' items with brilliant cartoons by well-known artists Ron Tandberg and Cathy Wilcox can be displayed as posters or used as t-towels..June 11, 2020: The World Trade Organisation appellate body decision against several countries that challenged Australia’s plain packaging law is the final victory in a ten-year battle against tobacco companies’ use of trade and investment law against public health.
June 8, 2020 The AFTINET submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Trea
May 7, 2020: Economist Professor Jeffrey Sachs and six other global figures have called for an immediate moratorium on all Investor-State Dispute Settlement claims and a permanent restriction on all such claims related to government action to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
May 4, 2020: The India Economic Times reports that 15 countries still trying to finalise the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership have made an offer to India on market access, and asked it to respond by May 15.
April 23.2020 Dr Patricia Ranald’s article in The Conversation shows how legal firm are already advising global companies on how to use clauses in trade agreements which allow them to claim millions in compensation for government regulation during the pandemic which may harm their profits.
More generally, she argues that the realities of the pandemic have forced governments to act in ways which show the flaws in the current trade deals that are negotiated in secret.