Introduction

One of the most interesting features of the three awards handed down in the arbitrations brought by the Yukos majority shareholders against the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the “Yukos Majority Awards”) was the tribunal’s extensive reliance on illegally obtained evidence. Specifically, the tribunal relied on confidential diplomatic cables from the United States Department of State that had been published on WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks first began publishing confidential diplomatic cables on November 28, 2010, nearly three months after the first investment treaty tribunal to analyze the Russian Federation’s tax assessments against Yukos issued its award finding that the tax assessments constituted an unlawful expropriation.

Articles in this series of Yukos papers so far:

Fruits of the Poisonous Tree: The Admissibility of Unlawfully Obtained Evidence in International Arbitration
by J.H. Boykin and M. Havalic
on OGEL and TDM

Mammoth Arbitrations: the Yukos Awards of 18 July 2014
by S. Nappert
on OGEL and TDM

Yukos and Contributory Fault by W. Sadowski
on OGEL and on TDM

What's Tax Got To Do With It? The Yukos Tribunal's Approach to Motive and Treaty Interpretation
by R. Teitelbaum
on OGEL and on TDM

Winning the Battle Does Not Mean Winning the War: Challenges Facing the Yukos Shareholders in Enforcing Their Arbitration Awards Against the Russian Federation in England and Wales
by M. Davies
on OGEL and on TDM

Yukos v. Russian Federation: Observations on the Tribunal's Ruling on Damages
by by B. Sabahi and D. Ziyaeva
on OGEL and on TDM