London Commercial Court: Service by diplomatic channels is mandatory to enforce award against a State in the UK
06 February 2019
In General Dynamics UK Ltd v Libya Queen's Bench Division [2019] EWHC 64 (Comm), the English Commercial Court held that an arbitral award against a State cannot be enforced in the United Kingdom without service on that State of court documents in accordance with s.12 of the State Immunity Act 1978.
EU Member States announce their intention to terminate intra-EU BITs
30 January 2019
In early January, the EU Member States announced their intention to terminate all intra-EU bilateral investment treaties. Their declarations come in reaction to last year’s Achmea-decision on intra-EU investor-state dispute settlement. Interestingly, the EU Member States could not agree on a unitary position regarding the Energy Charter Treaty.
How will these political declarations impact pending arbitrations, or those initiated before the EU Member States put in place a new regime?