Jurisdiction

Paris Court of Appeal, RG no. 22/20898, decision dated 1 July 2025

The Paris Court of Appeal dismissed an application to set aside a partial award on jurisdiction in an investor-state arbitration, based on alleged non-compliance with the relevant bilateral investment treaty’s fork-in-the-road provision. The Court held that compliance with the provision went to admissibility, not jurisdiction, and was therefore outside the Court’s purview. The Court also held that it was not bound by the arbitral tribunal’s characterisation of the question as one that goes to jurisdiction, as opposed to admissibility.

Original (Cour d'appel de Paris)  •  English Translation

French Court of Cassation, appeal no. 23-14.368, decision dated 9 October 2024

The issue was whether the tribunal had temporal jurisdiction (ratione temporae) over a claim to money brought to enforce a settlement agreement. The claims underlying the settlement agreement arose before the BIT came into force, whereas the settlement agreement was entered into after the BIT came into force.

The arbitral tribunal found it had jurisdiction. The Paris Court of Appeal agreed, and recognised the award. The Court of Cassation held that this was an error, since claims to money are only covered investments if they are "related to" an investment, and thus the dispute to enforce the settlement agreement was not independent of the underlying dispute. 

Original (Cour de cassation)  •  English Translation