A team of Gleiss Lutz lawyers has successfully represented STRABAG before the Berlin Court of Appeal and obtained a decision confirming the enforceability of an ICSID (AF) arbitral award against Libya in Germany.
The case concerned STRABAG’s investments in Libya, where the company was carrying out extensive road construction and infrastructure projects when civil war broke out in 2011. During the war, facilities, machinery and site equipment were stolen and damaged. STRABAG’s efforts after the war to recover outstanding payments for work done and claim damages were unsuccessful. STRABAG then initiated arbitral proceedings against Libya in 2015. The proceedings were administered by the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in accordance with the ICSID Additional Facility Rules on the basis of the bilateral investment treaty between Austria and Libya. The ICSID awarded STRABAG EUR 75 million in damages in June 2020. Libya petitioned the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to vacate the arbitral award. After the District Court denied the petition in September 2021, Libya appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which affirmed the District Court’s decision in May 2022.
While the U.S. proceedings were still ongoing, Gleiss Lutz initiated proceedings for a declaration of enforceability in Germany on behalf of STRABAG. With its decision of 4 August 2022, the Berlin Court of Appeal declared the arbitral award enforceable in Germany in the amount requested, without the need for a hearing.
The following Gleiss Lutz team acted for STRABAG in the proceedings before the Berlin Court of Appeal: Dr. Stephan Wilske (partner, Stuttgart), Dr. David Quinke (partner, Düsseldorf, both lead), Dr. Björn P. Ebert (Stuttgart), Laura de Leeuw (all dispute resolution), Dr. Eva Koch (counsel, public law both Düsseldorf).
Gleiss Lutz regularly advises German and foreign investors on international investment protection matters, helping them to structure foreign investments or protect these against unlawful measures by host states, and represents them in investment arbitral proceedings as well as subsequent annulment and enforcement proceedings.
While the U.S. proceedings were still ongoing, Gleiss Lutz initiated proceedings for a declaration of enforceability in Germany on behalf of STRABAG. With its decision of 4 August 2022, the Berlin Court of Appeal declared the arbitral award enforceable in Germany in the amount requested, without the need for a hearing.
The following Gleiss Lutz team acted for STRABAG in the proceedings before the Berlin Court of Appeal: Dr. Stephan Wilske (partner, Stuttgart), Dr. David Quinke (partner, Düsseldorf, both lead), Dr. Björn P. Ebert (Stuttgart), Laura de Leeuw (all dispute resolution), Dr. Eva Koch (counsel, public law both Düsseldorf).
Gleiss Lutz regularly advises German and foreign investors on international investment protection matters, helping them to structure foreign investments or protect these against unlawful measures by host states, and represents them in investment arbitral proceedings as well as subsequent annulment and enforcement proceedings.
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