Summary

This is the first arbitral award rendered under the 1987 ASEAN investment protection treaty. While the tribunal in the end did not assume jurisdiction because of the relatively narrow coverage of the 1987 treaty (amended by a subsequent treaty that was considered not applicable to the case), the tribunal was ready to disregard the exclusive jurisdiction of the domestic court (an issue that has appeared several times in recent BIT awards - CMS v Argentina , LANCO v Argentina , SGS v Pakistan and in the Vivendi and Vivendi annulment cases). It was also ...