By Caroline Ennis I. NAFTA’s Chapter 11 in Context When the U.S. and Canada entered a free trade agreement (“FTA”) in 1989, concerns emerged over the U.S. solidifying power over Canada. The primary concern was that a “hub and spoke” model, featuring the U.S. as the hub under separate bilateral agreements with Canada and Mexico,…
Category: Developments
The Impact of International Covenants on Human Rights and Arbitration
By Malini Prasad Millions of people around the world are trapped in harmful global supply chains. The fast fashion industry, and multinational conglomerates must aid in stopping and preventing these human rights abuses. Therefore, the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration (“ICC Court”) should adopt the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and…
The Aftermath of N. N. Global III: The Saga Continues
By Nidhisha Garg Background The Indian Supreme Court’s (Supreme Court) decision in ‘In re: Interplay Between Arbitration Agreements under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and the Indian Stamp Act, 1899’(N. N. Global III) was hailed when it was passed in December 2023 as it finally put to rest the long-standing controversy surrounding the validity…
Effective Vindication in Name Only: How Arbitration Rights Now Depend on Geography
By Braxton Johnson Defendants invoke arbitration to control costs, timelines, and exposure, but courts must still confront a threshold question: will arbitration permit plaintiffs to meaningfully vindicate federal statutory rights? In Italian Colors, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) sought to answer this question by recognizing the “effective vindication doctrine,” which bars enforcement…
Sustainable Development Compliance in International Investment Agreements: Enforceable at Arbitration?
By Carolina Joy As international investment agreements (IIAs) increasingly include references to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), investor-state arbitration further becomes a site of global governance, mediating conflicts between private investment protection and public development objectives. Within this dispute resolution mechanism, the tension between the soft law of the SDGs and the hard…
The Arbitration Brief 