DLA Piper achieved a significant victory on behalf of the Sultanate of Oman, in the first-ever claim under the US-Oman Free Trade Agreement. The award was issued November 3 by a three-person Tribunal constituted under the FTA.
DLA Piper was retained in 2011 to represent the Sultanate of Oman against an initial claim of more than $580 million in damages by a US investor in connection with the termination of a limestone quarry concession in Oman. The claim was submitted to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) under the auspices of the World Bank.
The ICSID Tribunal dismissed each of the claims alleging expropriation, breach of the fair and equitable standard, and breach of the national treatment standard. Concluding that Oman had been required to defend itself against charges that had "ultimately proven to be entirely unmeritorious," the Tribunal further made a cost award in Oman's favor in excess of $5.5 million.
The Tribunal considered novel questions of international law arising from a new generation of investment treaty that, for example, narrowed the grounds for attribution of State responsibility and prioritized the Contracting States' rights to enforce their environmental laws.
Oman's Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that that the ruling attests to the "robust and transparent foreign investment framework Oman upholds, with particular attention given to rights and claims of foreign investors choosing to invest in Oman."
The DLA Piper International Arbitration team included Stanley McDermott III, Kiera Gans and Rana Bahri in New York with Bruce Mullins and Sarah Al-Moosa in Muscat, and Bob Gruendel in New York.
For further information:
Sarah Wilson
Head of Marketing and Business Development, Middle East
T: +971 4 438 6280
E: sarah.wilson@dlapiper.com
DLA Piper is a global law firm with over 4,200 lawyers located in more than 30 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, positioning it to help companies with their legal needs anywhere in the world.
In the Middle East DLA Piper has 17 Partners and over 100 lawyers across nine offices, including representation in every GCC country.
For further information about our organisation and our services, please visit our website: www.dlapiper.com
© Press Release 2015
