Law360 Quotes Joel Dahlquist on Investment Treaty Claims Challenging Russia Sanctions

Arnold & Porter International Arbitration Adviser Joel Dahlquist was quoted in the Law360 article, “Claims Over Russia Sanctions Test Investment Treaty Limits,” which examines a growing wave of investor-state arbitration claims brought by sanctioned Russian individuals and entities against European countries that imposed sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Discussing whether bilateral investment treaty (BIT) drafters anticipated such claims, Joel noted that most investment treaties were negotiated during the post-Cold War period and were designed to promote foreign investment rather than address modern sanctions disputes. “No, I think, is the short answer to the question as to whether treaty drafters ever envisioned this happening, at least not in the contemporary sense,” he said, adding that he has “a very hard time seeing that this ever was something that they contemplated when the vast majority of these treaties were signed.”

Addressing how arbitral tribunals may approach these cases, Joel explained that the central issue is unlikely to be whether sanctions themselves were justified. “The question is not really, was the state right in doing this?” he said. Instead, he suggested that tribunals are more likely to focus on procedural protections and due process considerations, which are likely to become the key battleground in sanctions-related investment treaty disputes.

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