Janek Bednarz

Baker McKenzie

Janek Bednarz is a senior associate in the Baker McKenzie Dispute Resolution team, based in London. Janek has experience acting for corporations and States in a broad range of commercial and investment treaty arbitrations. Janek has specialist expertise in investor-state disputes under the ICSID rules and has also worked on a variety of commercial arbitrations under the ICC, LCIA, SCC, HKIAC and DIAC rules. His practice investor-state practice centres on projects in energy ad infrastructure sectors. In addition, Janek’s commercial arbitration experience spans a variety of additional sectors and specialisms, including post M&A disputes, commodities, construction and the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Janek was a trainee case manager at the ICC Court of Arbitration. Janek is a co-author of Legal 500’s Investment Treaty Arbitration Guide and the BIICL Empirical Study on Corporate Restructuring and Investment Treaty Protections.

Practice Area

Arbitration

Panel

Contributing Author

Qualified Year

2020

Experience

ICC Court of Arbitration (July 2017 - October 2017)

Membership

London Court of International Arbitration
Law Society of England & Wales

Qualifications

LPC (2018)
LLB (2017)

Education

BPP University (2018)
King’s College London (2017)

1 Contributions by Janek Bednarz

PRACTICE NOTES

Investment treaty arbitration: BITs/MITs, ICSID/UNCITRAL, substantive protections, investor/investment definitions, MFN and umbrella clauses, interim relief, and UK enforcement/state immunity

This Practice Note offers an overview of investment treaty arbitration. In essence, investment treaty arbitration concerns resolving, usually, a foreign investor’s claim against a respondent state, alleging violations of investor safeguards set out in an investment treaty concluded between two states or a bloc of states, under an arbitration agreement embedded in the treaty’s investor–state dispute settlement clauses. Such claims are brought pursuant to the arbitration agreement set within the treaty’s investor–state dispute settlement provisions. 'Investment treaty arbitration' is often contrasted with 'international commercial arbitration'; both are frequently grouped under 'international arbitration'. See Practice Note: International arbitration—an introduction to the key features of international arbitration, for discussion of the term 'international commercial arbitration'. Investment treaties Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and multilateral investment treaties (MITs) are central to any consideration of investment treaty arbitration. Bilateral investment treaties A BIT is an agreement between two states whereby each undertakes to extend rights and protections to the other’s investors. Typically, a BIT grants the investor a pathway to international arbitration should a dispute arise concerning its investment. Bilateral Free Trade Agreements frequently also include investor dispute resolution mechanisms...

Arbitration

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