State Succession and ISDS

A side event of UNCITRAL WG III to discuss topical cases of State succession and ISDS over the past decade.

Following the recently-published award in Oleg Deripaska v. Montenegro, this seminar will discuss the succession of States in investor-State dispute settlement. Since the secession of South Sudan in 2011, succession issues have regularly arisen in investor-State arbitration over the past decade on succession to treaties (Sanum v. Laos; World Wide Minerals v. Kazakhstan; Gold Pool v. Kazakhstan), State property (Sudapet Company Ltd v. South Sudan; Haakon Korsgaard v. Croatia) and nationality (Khudyan v. Armenia). Sponsored by Steptoe LLP, this seminar will discuss not only the issues arising in these arbitrations but also related questions of procedural law, such as temporality, res judicata and applicable law. Held on the sidelines of the session of UNCITRAL Working Group III (Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform) the panel of expert speakers comprise the following:

Chair: Professor Dr August Reinisch (University of Vienna)

Arbitrator, Member of the International Law Commission

Speaker: Professor Patrick Dumberry (University of Ottawa)

Author of A Guide to State Succession in International Investment Law (Elgar, 2018)

Speaker: Professor Chiara Giorgetti (University of Richmond)

Arbitrator, Delegate of the Republic of San Marino to UNCITRAL WG III

Speaker: Dr Arman Sarvarian (University of Surrey)

Independent Counsel, Author of The Law of State Succession: Principles and Practice (Oxford University Press, 2025)

Speaker: Professor Dr Andreas Kulick (University of Mainz)

Co-Editor of General International Law in International Investment Law (Oxford University Press, 2024)

This event is free of charge and open to the public with in-person and online attendance options. For in-person attendance at the top floor of the Faculty of Law, prior registration is required at the following address: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1622437416989?aff=oddtdtcreator. A drinks reception for registered participants will follow at Theos Lounge & Bar (400m walk). If interested in joining the reception, please email: a.sarvarian@surrey.ac.uk

For online attendance, the joining details are the following:

https://us05web.zoom.us/j/82315237561?pwd=jRaoLuxwqsQY3u4Abd6Ss7zZusKJ3X.1

Meeting ID: 823 1523 7561

Password: QW6T5e