BG Group PLC v. Republic of Argentina (572 U.S. 25)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 5, 2014 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 572 U.S. 25 · 134 S. Ct. 1198
- Decided
- March 5, 2014
- Term
- October Term 2013
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Breyer
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice BREYER delivered the opinion of the Court. Article 8 of an investment treaty between the United Kingdom and Argentina contains a dispute-resolution provision, applicable to disputes between one of those nations and an investor from the other. See Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments, Art. 8(2), Dec. 11, 1990, 1765 U.N.T.S. 38 (hereinafter Treaty). The provision authorizes either party to submit a dispute "to the decision of the competent tribunal of the Contracting Party in whose territory the investment was made," i.e., a local court. Art. 8(1). And it provides for arbitration "(i) where, after a period of eighteen months has elapsed from the moment when the dispute was submitted to the competent tribunal ..., the said tribunal has not given its final decision; [or] "(ii) where the final decision of the aforementioned tribunal has been made but the Parties are still in dispute." Art. 8(2)(a). The Treaty also entitles the parties to agree to proceed directly to arbitration. Art. 8(2)(b). This case concerns the Treaty's arbitration clause, and specifically the local court litigation requirement set forth in Article 8(2)(a). The question before us is whether a court of the United States, in reviewing an arbitration award made under the Treaty, should interpret and apply the local litigation requirement de novo, or with the deference that courts…
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