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8 February 2013

Although historically public international law has regulated the relationship between states, more recently public international law has been extended to private entities primarily by way of bilateral and multilateral investment treaties.

Corporate entities that operate on a global level have emerged as legal persons that have their own rights and obligations under public international law whenever dealing with states and state entities. The role of public international law in the commercial context will continue to grow in the coming years.

Chadbourne represents state sovereigns and private entities on an extensive range of contentious and non-contentious public international law matters. These matters include:

• Bilateral and multilateral investment treaty claims (ICSID, UNCITRAL, NAFTA, and the Energy Charter Treaty)
• The protection of international investments under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties, free trade agreements and concession contracts
• The structuring of international investments to minimise political risk
• Treaty drafting, negotiation and interpretation
• Sovereign immunity
• Denial of justice and expropriation claims
• International environmental law
• International human rights law, including aspects of corporate social responsibility
• Alien Tort Statute/Torture Victim Protection Act claims
• Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards
• Boundary disputes, pipelines, hydrocarbon concessions, and joint development zones

Representative matters

International investment arbitration — investor representation

• Representing an investor in an ICSID arbitration against the Republic of Ghana regarding the development of a salt production and mining facility in Ghana
• Assisting a European-based energy company with its liability for a petroleum tax levied by the Nigerian State on interests held under off-shore Production Sharing Agreements, advising on local arbitration claims and alternative routes for claiming under ICSID
• Advising an exploration company in connection with a BIT claim (and the related ICSID proceeding) regarding our client’s inability to use facilities leased by the Albanian government
• Representing an exploration company in connection with a BIT claim (and the related ICSID and ECT proceeding) regarding the misappropriation of certain storage tanks in three separate locations in Montenegro
• Representing a Dubai-based entity in a dispute involving the development of a port. (DIAC, Dubai, UAE law); originally filed as ICSID case
• Representing a UK-based multinational and its Mexican affiliate in a potential NAFTA dispute against Canada under the ICSID Additional Facility Rules
• Advising a German and two Peruvian entities in an arbitration under the UNCITRAL Rules regarding the nationalisation of their assets by Bolivia and the resulting investment treaty arbitration under the applicable BITs
• Representing a European energy company in an ICSID arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty
• Acting in an ICSID arbitration dispute between a foreign commercial party and the Malaysian government concerning the provision of telecommunications services and related infrastructure
• Advising a major multinational on its Public International Law remedies (including ICSID and bilateral treaty claims) in respect of claims for expropriation and denial of justice by the Romanian government
• Advising a US investor in Uzbekistan regarding bilateral investment treaty/ICSID claims against Uzbekistan following expropriation of the investor’s business and local assets
• Representing a Dutch oil company in an ICISD arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty against Kazakhstan
• Representing an oil company in relation to an ICSID investment treaty dispute with an African country
• Counsel to claimant in ICSID claim against a Latin American state for the expropriation of a fertiliser plant
• Representing the United States Council for International Business amicus curiae brief before the US Supreme Court regarding preconditions to investment arbitration: BG Group Plc v Republic of Argentina
• Representing the claimant in an ICSID arbitration against Georgia involving expropriation related to a highway construction and casino hotel services concession
• Advising on an ICSID claim regarding the expropriation of an airline
• Representing a major multinational corporation in an ICSID claim involving the expropriation of a glass plant
• Advising an Eastern European Entity in an ICSID claim against a south-east Asian state involving contractual issues in the power sector
• Advising various private entities on structuring investments to obtain BIT protection

International investment arbitration — sovereign representation

• Representing a South American sovereign government from South America in relation to two ICSID disputes concerning an international contract
• Representing the Mexican government in a NAFTA dispute under a provision related to cross-border investment in financial services under ICSID Additional Facility Rules
• Representing an Eastern European State in an ICSID investment treaty dispute
• Representing a Central American sovereign in an ICSID dispute relating to an infrastructure contract
• Representing the Mexican government in an ICSID arbitration involving claims of expropriation and unequal treatment in a concession contract for a national road vehicle registration system
• Representing the Mexican government in an ICSID arbitration bought by a French company involving claims for expropriation and unequal treatment

Other public international law matters

• Advising a Middle Eastern state on sovereign immunity and international human rights law
• Advising an Asian state on claims involving a hydrocarbon royalty by a provincial government and questions of law of the sea
• Advising a private entity on maritime boundary / oil concession issues in the Bay of Bengal
• Representing a leading human rights activist and professor of law in a torture claim before the Southern District of Ohio under the Alien Tort Statute/Torture Victims Protection Act against a former Somali Colonel during the Siad Barré regime
• Advising an NGO on international human rights jurisprudence
• Advising various energy companies on corporate social responsibility and issues of liability under the Alien Tort Statute and Torture Victim Protection Act

For more information on public international law click here.

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