Curtis Chairman George Kahale III Writes Article on the Mobil and Conoco Cases Against Venezuela

Firm Chairman George Kahale has written a new article, entitled “The Mobil and Conoco cases against Venezuela: the good, the bad and the ugly,” which has just been published by the Journal of International Dispute Settlement.

In the article, Mr. Kahale discusses two of the most significant ISDS cases in recent years, the Mobil and Conoco cases against Venezuela. The cases involved the same factual background and the same issues, but reached radically different results. This article focuses on the treatment of the expropriation issues in both cases, including the scope of property rights that are protected under investment treaties, the legality of an expropriation and valuation date. The different approaches and contradictory outcomes in the arbitrations and annulment proceedings do not inspire confidence in ISDS as an adequate dispute settlement mechanism. What they do is reinforce the view of ISDS as the Wild, Wild West of international practice.

The full article is available here.