Members of Doughty Street International (DSI) have acted as counsel, arbitrators, and experts on contractual and investment treaty arbitrations across the world, and they maintain outstanding reputations.

Members have conducted arbitrations in the leading arbitral seats under all the major arbitral rules, including the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague (PCA).  

They have represented and advised both public and private sector clients on arbitrations, including sovereign States, governments, trade unions, individuals, corporations, NGOs, and charities. They have acted as counsel, and arbitrators in ad-hoc and institutional arbitrations, which include both State-State and investor-State arbitrations. Members have acted for sovereign States and state-owned entities on matters such as sovereign immunity, treaty interpretation, customary international law, and state responsibility. 

The arbitration group is hugely experienced across a range of sectors and subject matters, and in the full spectrum of litigation applying public international law including acting in cases before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Inter-America Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and various UN Treaty Bodies. 

Members accept instructions on arbitrations through solicitors in England and Wales, from overseas lawyers, or directly from businesses and individuals based outside the United Kingdom. For further information, please contact the Senior Civil Clerk Sian Wilkins, or Practice Manager, Naomi Smith.

Investment Treaty Arbitrations

Members of the group specialise in investor-state arbitration and dispute settlement (ISDS) under bilateral investment treaties (BITs), free trade agreements (FTAs) and other international agreements for the protection and promotion of foreign investment. 

They have represented investors and States in dozens of arbitrations brought under investment treaties for alleged expropriation, unfair treatment and other breaches of international law, and in ICSID Annulment proceedings.  

The experience of the group covers a broad range of industries, including the energy, financial, manufacturing, and telecommunications sectors.  Members presently act in several high profile and politically significant arbitrations, including two investor-state disputes arising out of the Eurozone financial crisis in Greece and Cyprus. Their experience also covers most regions of the world, including Asia-Pacific, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa.     

Members have worked closely with many of the leading specialist international arbitration law firms and are uniquely positioned to draw on Doughty Street Chambers’ complementary expertise in international  sanctions, immunities, regulatory and financial crime, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law and international criminal law.  

Members of Doughty Street Chambers have sat as arbitrator or acted as counsel in investment treaty arbitrations conducted under the ICSID and UNCITRAL Rules.  

Key cases include: 

  • Permanent Court of Arbitration - Pakistan v India, Indus Waters Treaty Arbitration PCA Case No. 2023-01 (2016 - present) 

  • Permanent Court of Arbitration - Metroplex Berhad v. Republic of the Philippines, under the ASEAN Treaty and applying UNCITRAL Rules PCA Case No. 2020-30 (2020-22) 

  • ICSID - Venezuela Holdings B.V. and others v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Resubmission Proceeding ICSID Case No. ARB/07/27 (2021)

  • International Chamber of Commerce - Geotehnika Ltd., Croatia v the Republic of Sudan and the National Corporation for the Development of Rural Water Resources,  ICC Case No. 23078/MHM (2021)

  • ICSID - Ayoub-Farid Michel Saab v. United Republic of Tanzania, ICSID Case No. ARB/19/8 (Discontinued) (2020).

  • International Chamber of Commerce - Adria Aktiengescellschaft v. the Government of the Republic of Sudan and Sudan ReN Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd., ICC Case No. 19281/EMT/GR (2017-2018)

  • ICSID - Michael Dagher v the Republic of the Sudan, ICSID Case No ARB/14/2 (2017)

  • ICSID - Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, Limited and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Limited v. Kingdom of Belgium, ICSID Case No. ARB/12/29 (2012-2015)

  • ONGC Videsh Limited (India) v The Republic of Sudan, PCA Case No. (2019-13)

  • Permanent Court of Arbitration - Argentina v Ghana, The ARA Libertad Arbitration PCA Case No. 2013-11 (2012-2013)

  • ICSID - Víctor Pey Casado and President Allende Foundation v. Chile, Second Annulment Proceedings ICSID Case No. ARB/98/2 (1998).

Contractual Arbitrations

Members have acted as counsel for individuals, governments, trade unions, and companies in complex, cross-border arbitrations arising from contracts. 

Members of the group have advised, for example, on the potential for bringing conceptually ground-breaking arbitrations by trade union federations against large corporations to enforce previously agreed standards of treatment in relation to employees in the supply chain operating in the developing world. Several members have also advised on appeals to, and enforcement of, arbitral awards internationally.  

Their experience covers a broad range of industries, including financial, manufacturing, telecommunication, media, mining, oil and gas, agriculture, and shipbuilding sectors. 

Group members have also sat as arbitrators and acted as arbitration secretaries in commercial arbitrations conducted under various arbitral rules. 

Where required, Chambers draws on an extensive network of local lawyers in other jurisdictions to ensure comprehensive advice and representation for clients dealing with issues in multiple fora. 

Arbitration Court Proceedings and Expert Testimony

Members of the group have acted as experts in several international arbitrations across a wide range of subjects. 

Notable cases includeT-279/19 and T-344/19 before the General Court of the European Union. They have also served as expert witnesses on questions of public international law before the Supreme Court of British Columbia, notably in the case of The Attorney General of Canada on behalf of the United States of America v [Huawei CFO] Wanzhou Meng. 

Members have also represented clients in the courts of various jurisdictions in arbitration-related proceedings, including before the English courts, European courts, the national Caribbean Court, and the Caribbean Court of Justice.