Work Area: Sovereign immunity

The US Department of Justice has weighed into a DC Circuit appeal over the enforcement of three Energy Charter Treaty awards against Spain, arguing that the existence of an arbitration agreement is a threshold question and that it was “improper” for a judge to issue anti-suit injunctions against the respondent state.

06 February 2024

The former majority of shareholders of Yukos have seized a London property owned by Russia to satisfy the legal costs of their battle to enforce awards worth US$60 billion.

02 February 2024

A judge in London has adjourned Spain’s bid to undo the registration of a €33 million ICSID award in favour of two solar investors on sovereign immunity grounds until an appeal in a similar case is decided.

31 January 2024

In a “novel” ruling that goes against international case law, the Commercial Court in London has declined to set aside an order for the registration of a decade-old ICSID award against Zimbabwe, finding that sovereign immunity has no relevance at that stage of proceedings.

24 January 2024

Lucas Bastin KC told GAR Live Sydney that Australia could become the “stand out” jurisdiction for enforcement of awards against state assets – as its courts possess “execution powers that do not exist” in other countries with equivalent state immunity legislation.

28 November 2023

The Commercial Court in London has found that Russia cannot invoke sovereign immunity as a defence to enforcement of awards worth nearly US$60 billion won by the former majority shareholders of Yukos Oil Company.

01 November 2023

The Federal Court of Australia has ruled that India cannot rely on state immunity as a defence to enforcement of a US$111 million investment treaty award arising from a cancelled satellite deal.

24 October 2023

Moldovan investors engaged in a decade-long campaign to enforce a US$500 million Energy Charter Treaty award against Kazakhstan have failed to reinstate a Dutch attachment against a sovereign wealth fund – after reporting favourable rulings in Sweden, the US and Gibraltar.

13 October 2023

A Trafigura subsidiary has moved closer to seizing Ghanaian state properties in London to satisfy a US$140 million award after a court ruled the state didn’t need to be served with interim charging orders through diplomatic channels.

12 October 2023

The former majority shareholders of Yukos Oil Company have urged a UK court to reject Russia’s sovereign immunity defence to the enforcement of awards worth nearly US$60 billion, arguing the Dutch courts have already decided the underlying issue.

04 October 2023