Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Disputes definition

What does Disputes mean? In legal practice, disputes are disagreements giving rise to potential legal rights and remedies between parties, addressed through dispute resolution including litigation, arbitration and ADR such as mediation and negotiation. The term is descriptive rather than a defined statutory concept; the substantive rights and procedures arise from statute and common law. Typical features include identification of the cause of action, applicable limitation periods, choice of jurisdiction and forum, compliance with pre-action protocols or pre-action correspondence, disclosure/discovery, evidence, settlement, costs and enforcement. Usage is broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, though civil procedure differs: CPR in England...

Intra-EU investor-state arbitration post-Achmea: ECT developments, BIT terminations, EU state aid, and enforcement of awards in EU and non-EU courts

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert

Practice notes

Introduction

The practice of an investor from one EU Member State relying on intra‑EU bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) to bring arbitration against another EU Member State as the host has sparked substantial controversy in recent years. That debate has underscored the friction between protections afforded by EU law and those conferred under BITs and the ECT. As explained further below, this issue is now, for the most part, resolved as a matter of EU law. Yet, strikingly, in almost all intra‑EU investor‑state arbitrations (under either BITs or the ECT) to date, tribunals have declined to dismiss cases for lack of jurisdiction on the basis of the intra‑EU objection. As a result, many EU investors are pursuing enforcement of arbitral awards against EU Member States outside the EU, and many others are opting to seat proceedings for new intra‑EU investment disputes beyond the EU. For background on resolving intra‑EU investment disputes through arbitration, see the (archived) Practice Note: Arbitration in intra‑EU bilateral investment treaties [Archived] The only three intra‑EU investment disputes in which arbitral tribunals have declined jurisdiction based on...

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Ana Stanič

E&A Law Limited

Ana is the founder of E&A Law and an English Solicitor Advocate and Irish solicitor. For over 25 years she has advised on matters of energy law, EU law and international law with specific emphasis on dispute resolution. She regularly advises states, international institutions and energy companies on EU energy law including the energy transition, energy security and the inter-relationship between EU and international law including with respect to Nord Stream 2 and South Stream. Ana also acts as counsel and sits as arbitrator in commercial and investment treaty arbitrations and has appeared before the Court of Justice of the EU. She has negotiated concession agreements to construct large energy infrastructure, host government agreements as well as advised on maritime boundary dispute in the East Med and Africa. As a member of the Slovenian government negotiated several Bilateral Investment Treaties and a Free Trade...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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