Cybersecurity, international law and geopolitical divisions

Cybersecurity, international law and geopolitical divisions

Last week cyberattacks against British Airways, BBC and Swiss government agencies made it to the top of headlines around the world. These attacks show that greater connectivity has increased vulnerabilities in the absence of global regulatory responses. On 26 May 2023, we convened in Tokyo Symposium on ‘Public and Private Governance of Cybersecurity: Challenges and…

44th session of the UNCITRAL Working Group III: Code of Conduct for Arbitrators, its Enforcement, Corruption Allegations in ISDS

44th session of the UNCITRAL Working Group III: Code of Conduct for Arbitrators, its Enforcement, Corruption Allegations in ISDS

The UNCITRAL Group III on investor-state dispute settlement reform met on 23-27 January 2023 in Vienna and focused on the commentary on the draft code of conduct for adjudicators in ISDS and the appellate mechanism. On 24 January Vladimir Kozin and I presented key findings of the UNODC ongoing study on corruption allegations in ISDS.…

The effect of sanctions on investment arbitration 

The effect of sanctions on investment arbitration 

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the effect of sanctions on arbitration has become an increasingly important topic. Within weeks of the invasion, the European Union, United States, United Kingdom, Japan and other states imposed sweeping sanctions to support peace and the territorial integrity of Ukraine, quickly making Russia the most sanctioned state in…

Scope of Foreign Direct Investment Controls

Scope of Foreign Direct Investment Controls

It has been a pleasure to present on defining foreign investments in Uppsala, Sweden at the CELIS Forum on Investment Screening earlier today. My presentation covered investments subject to FDI screening, cases, treaties and international coordination of the investment concept, territorial nexus and jurisdictional overlap. Having examined international investment agreements and ISDS cases, I drew…

Expert Group Meeting on Corruption and International Investments – Key Findings Revealed

Expert Group Meeting on Corruption and International Investments – Key Findings Revealed

On 16 December 2021, I had a privilege of co-chairing with Vladimir Kozin (UNODC) an event featuring key recommendations of the forthcoming report on corruption and foreign direct investments and corruption and investor-state dispute settlement. This post summarises key developments, which led to these findings and the document itself. Resolution 8/9 (2019) of State Parties…

Responding to Public and Private Cyberattacks: Self-Defence, Countermeasures and Jurisdiction

Responding to Public and Private Cyberattacks: Self-Defence, Countermeasures and Jurisdiction

Today I presented at the international conference “The Challenge of Global Cybersecurity” organised by the University of Granada, one of Spain’s oldest universities. Granada is also the birthplace of Francisco Suárez who had an important influence on the philosophy of international law. My presentation ‘Responding to Public and Private Cyberattacks: Self-Defence, Countermeasures and Jurisdiction’ focused…

Rectroactive application on law: approaches in domestic and international law

Rectroactive application on law: approaches in domestic and international law

In our recently published article we examine the principle of non-retroactivity in domestic and international law. We conclude that while in the criminal law context it has become a binding norm of international law, it has not crystalized into such norm in administrative law. The article pays particular attention to the application of this principle…

Corporate restructuring and frivolous claims in investor-state dispute settlement

Corporate restructuring and frivolous claims in investor-state dispute settlement

Today I made an intervention on corporate restructuring and frivolous claims during the session of the Working Group III: Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform. Thank you Mr. Chair for the opportunity to address the distinguished audience. In its intervention, Australia mentioned the problem of corporate restructuring and frivolous claims. Indeed, efforts to create a new and…