Dr. Claudia Annacker, Member of SIAC Court of Arbitration, Delivers Talk at NLSIU
April 22, 2024
We were delighted to host Dr. Claudia Annacker at the NLS campus on April 19, 2024 where she delivered the inaugural edition of the NLSIU-SIAC Annual Arbitration Lecture titled “Sunset Clauses in Bilateral Investment Treaties”. Dr. Claudia Annacker is an independent arbitrator and counsel based in Paris and a member of the SIAC Court of Arbitration. This lecture was jointly organised by the National Law School of India and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).
During the lecture, Dr. Annacker shared various examples of sunset clauses in investment treaties, and talked about the implications of such clauses in treaty disputes. She explained the features of sunset clauses, drafting oversights, and the potential limitations of these clauses during her lecture. The lecture also looked at illustrations of revocation of sunset clauses under the Law of Treaties, modalities of termination and the impact of termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties on pending and concluded arbitrations.
Reflecting on her visit to NLS, Dr. Annacker said: ““This is my first time visiting any law school in India. First, I had the pleasure to speak on a topic that I personally find very interesting. I also think the topic is practically important, in particular to India, but also beyond India to many other Asian states and to Europe. I generally enjoy interactions with Indian students – they are very lively, very engaging, and raise very interesting questions, and I had the same experience here today at NLS as well. So I look forward to coming back!”
Dr. Annacker’s visit to the city is a short trip this time around, but hopes to visit again sometime in the future. While she teaches at the SIAC Academy, this is her first in-person teaching session at an Indian law school, which she described as “a great first experience.”
Reflecting on the theme of her talk, Dr. Annacker said: “There are several options to speak about of course because the investment treaty arbitration system is currently in a state of flux and we are in a reform process. I thought that sunset clauses have attracted so little attention in the past and have become such an important issue now and it’s a good example where you can see in general that the second generation/first generation BITs simply didn’t pay much attention either to the policy choices made by such sunset clauses nor to the drafting. So, I think it’s a real challenge that treaty negotiators are facing now and it’s also a lesson learned – you need to pay attention to your treaty provisions otherwise you may face entirely unintended consequences.”
She also shared her advice to law students who are particularly keen on arbitration: “Arbitration is a wide, wide, wide topic of course. So assuming that you get yourself a basic overview of the topic, what I would find particularly interesting to follow is the ongoing Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) reform process. Think about ‘Where will the system go?’. Follow the ongoing UNCITRAL Working Group discussions, at least the basic conclusions, and follow other reform projects, because I think currently just going with textbook examples, learning how tribunals have now for a long period of time interpreted treaty protections which are State guarded, the system may change quite rapidly, and when you will be actually practising, it will be important to be up to date, and we may see institutionally quite a different system, and even if the system is not overhauled, of course the system will have developed substantially from what we’ve seen in the past.”
Watch the full video of her lecture here:
More about Claudia Annacker
Dr Claudia Annacker specializes in international arbitration and public international law, in particular Investor-State disputes, inter-State disputes, disputes involving international organizations and human rights disputes. Dr. Annacker has represented sovereign and private parties in more than 35 investment arbitrations, as well as in commercial and inter-State arbitrations. Dr. Annacker has also served as arbitrator in investment treaty and commercial arbitrations. She is a member of several arbitrator panels, including the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators and the SIAC Panel of Arbitrators. She is a member of the SIAC Court of Arbitration and the VIAC Board (President of the Investment Arbitration Committee).
Dr. Annacker received a Ph.D. with high honors and a venia legendi et docendi (habilitation) for public international law from the University of Vienna. Dr. Annacker is an adjunct professor at the University of Vienna and has been a visiting professor at the Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense University. She has published widely in the fields of international arbitration and public international law.