In a recent op-ed for the New York Times, Manuel Perez-Rocha, an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, argues that prevailing mechanisms for the resolution of state-investor disputes are rigged against states. Arbitration mechanisms are particularly detrimental to poorer states, according to Perez-Rocha. Focusing on the arbitration currently under way between El Salvador […]
El Salvador and mineral firm in final stages of ICSID arbitration
The International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is currently in the final stages of arbitrating a dispute between the government of El Salvador and Pacific Rim LLC, a gold mining company recently acquired by Australian mining firm OceanaGold. The ICSID proceedings began in 2009, when Pacific Rim claimed El Salvador unlawfully denied […]
Reko Diq: all over but the arbitration
Earlier this month, Tethyan Copper Company (TCC)—the Antofagasta-Barrick joint venture company formed to explore and mine the Reko Diq area in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province—announced that it was no longer seeking a mining license, and would only pursue financial reparations in its ongoing arbitration processes. The company’s original goal in these arbitrations was to compel Pakistan’s […]