In partnership with the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services (“SRC”) (University of the West Indies) and the international law firm “Foley Hoag”, the CARO Centre team organized a training course which took place from November 27 to 28, 2023 on the campus of the University of the West Indies in Barbados, on the theme: “Caribbean Countries & Investor-State Dispute Settlement”.

These two days of training were followed by a conference held on November 29, 2023 on the campus of the University of the West Indies in Barbados.

This course was prepared by :

For Centre CARO

• Sir Dennis Byron, Chairman
• Marie-Camille Pitton, Secretary-General
• Solène Balaguette, Counsel and Project Manager
• Axelle Desplan, Assistant

For SRC

• Jan Yves Remy, SRC Director
• Alicia Nicholls, Senior Lecturer
• Clauzel Forde, Coordinator

For Foley Hoag :

The aim of this event was to provide better training for lawyers in the various Ministries responsible for handling investment arbitration claims notified to the State. These claims or requests for arbitration are formulated based on a text (generally a treaty) protecting the interests of foreign investors in a given territory.

This training course was mainly attended by representatives of ministries and governments of English-speaking Caribbean and CARICOM states (Jamaica, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia...).

This training was followed by a one-day conference to alert and invite Caribbean states to join the reform movement underway in the European Union and more generally at the global level.

(i) Concerning the November 27 and 28, 2023 training session

The training took place over two days, with representatives of the organizing bodies.

The training explored the procedural and substantive aspects of investment arbitration, and described the role of an Arbitration Centre in this context (see detailed program attached). It was accompanied by practical case studies.

(ii) Concerning the November 28-29, 2023 conference

The conference kicked off with a Conversation with Sir Dennis Byron, a leading Caribbean and international figure, late on November 28. The theme of the conversation was “Arbitration: opportunity or challenge for Caribbean states?”

This discussion, moderated by Marie-Camille Pitton, gave Sir Dennis Byron the opportunity to look back on his very early commitment to the development of arbitration and, more generally, Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) in the Caribbean.

The development of ADs is one of the keys to ensuring faster settlement of cases before the courts, in the interests of the litigant. However, certain aspects of the development of arbitration are problematic, and call for caution for States, especially when they are parties to the procedure. Sir Dennis insisted on the need for Caribbean states to adapt these procedures to the Caribbean context, so as not to have mechanisms imposed on them that could be detrimental.

The conference was aimed at a wider audience of lawyers, magistrates, representatives of international organizations based in Barbados (European Union, United Nations, export agencies, investment agencies), students and more generally, representatives of civil society.

The aim of the day was to alert the representatives of the States present, and more generally the public, to the need for Caribbean States to participate in the global reform movement in favour of a more balanced legal framework for the settlement of investor-State disputes. In particular, the panellists stressed that this framework must guarantee the full sovereignty of states to adopt measures to protect the general interest, without fear of subsequent prosecution for infringing the rights of foreign investors.

Several panels followed during the day, featuring the following speakers:

• Chantal Ononaiwu, in charge of investor-State dispute resolution issues at CARICOM
• Zachary Phillips, Crown Counsel, Antigua and Barbuda Attorney General's Chambers
• Dr. Alicia Elias-Roberts, Dean of the Faculty of Law (Augustine Campus), University of the East Indies
• Alicia Nicholls, Senior Lecturer at the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services
• Marie-Camille Pitton, Secretary-General of the CARO Centre
• Mark Appel, Arbitrator, Mediator, Former Vice-President of the New York-based International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), author of best-practice guides to mediation in investor-state disputes.
• Judith Knieper, Legal Adviser to the Secretariat of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
• Shane Spelliscy, Chair, UNCITRAL Working Group III, and Director-General, Trade Law Bureau, Canada and Deputy Legal Adviser, Global Affairs Canada
• Dr Jason Haynes, Associate Professor at the University of Birmingham Law School, UK
• Natallie Rochester, Consultant and former CARICOM investment treaty negotiator
• Omar Chedda, Director, Investment Department, Ministries of Industry, Investment and Trade, and Economic Growth and Job Creation

This major event highlighted the need to raise awareness among Caribbean countries of the issue of investment arbitration. Other events of this type will take place in the coming months and years in various Caribbean territories.