Opportunities and Risks in the Upcoming BG Group v Argentina Decision
Published 6 January 2014
Introduction
On December 2, 2013, the much-anticipated case of BG Group v Argentina was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. BG Group was a case of first impression on many counts. Notably, this was the first time an investor-State arbitration award has come before the Supreme Court for its review. And although the Supreme Court has already considered the question of whether courts or arbitrators have the final say on whether preconditions to arbitration have been satisfied, it has never had occasion to consider this issue in the context of an international arbitration between non-U.S. parties. As a case of many firsts, the BG Group case provides a welcome opportunity for the U.S. Supreme Court to provide guidance on the scope of judicial review of arbitrators’ decisions on whether preconditions to international investment arbitration have been satisfied or may be dispensed with.