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United Kingdom

Republic of Korea v Elliott: Commercial Court clarifies State attribution in investor–State arbitration; NPS not State organ; presidential measures attributable; award partly set aside; causation remitted (England and Wales)

Published on: 12 March 2026

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England & Wales—clarifying the Boundaries of State Attribution (Republic of Korea v Elliott Associates, LP)

Republic of Korea v Elliott Associates, LP [2026] EWHC 368 (Comm)

What are the practical implications of the case?

Foxton LJ construed the Treaty by applying the method in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 (VCLT). Under Article 31, interpretation must have regard to any relevant rules of international law governing relations between the parties. The parties accepted that this covered the principles of international law set out in the draft articles on Responsibility of States for Intentionally Wrongful Acts and the International Law Commission’s accompanying commentary (the ‘ILC Articles’ and ‘ILC Commentary’).

A key issue was whether the NPS qualified as an organ of the Korean State. If it did, Article 4 of the ILC Articles would attribute all of its conduct to the State. Foxton LJ determined that the NPS, as a corporate entity, was not a de jure State organ, in light of its distinct legal personality and its hybrid institutional make-up...

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