Arnold & Porter Obtains ICSID Victory for the Dominican Republic In DR-CAFTA Investment Arbitration

Washington, D.C. June 29, 2016 -- Arnold & Porter LLP achieved a major victory on behalf of the Dominican Republic in a DR-CAFTA arbitration brought at ICSID by U.S. company Corona Materials, relating to a USD 100 million claim over an environmental license for an aggregate mining concession. In an Award issued on May 31, 2016 in Corona Materials LLC v. Dominican Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/14/3), the Tribunal dismissed Claimant's claims in their entirety on the basis that the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction pursuant to DR-CAFTA Article 10.18.1, which requires that a claimant assert its claims no more than three years from the date on which it first acquired knowledge (i) of the alleged breach of the DR-CAFTA, and (ii) of its alleged loss or damage. The Tribunal also rejected a claim that there had been a denial of justice by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic. Arnold & Porter's legal team for the Dominican Republic included partners Paolo Di Rosa and Raúl R. Herrera; associates José Antonio Rivas, Mallory Silberman, Catherine Kettlewell, and Pedro Soto; and foreign attorneys Natalia Giraldo-Carillo, Claudia Taveras and Daniela Páez. The defense team also included government representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Foreign Trade and Trade Agreements Administration.

The latest victory before ICSID was Arnold & Porter's 23rd consecutive positive ruling on behalf of sovereign States in investment treaty arbitrations.