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Rule of Law Index

In 2024, Spain leads the Arbitral Awards Compliance Index prepared annually by NL Investment Consulting, authored by Dutch professor Nikos Lavranos, an eminent figure in the field of international arbitration.

Of the 1,332 arbitrations processed throughout history against at least 132 different countries, some 958 have come to an end. In 37.7% of the cases, the awards were favorable to the respondent governments, while 28% were settled with a decision in favor of the investors and 18.5% were resolved by agreements between the parties that put an end to the disputes (13.4% were archived and 2.5% were null and void).

To date, Spain has refused to comply with the arbitration sentences that condemn the Iberian country to compensate 24 companies affected by the retroactive withdrawal of renewable premiums, accumulating obligations for more than 1,500 million euros, a figure to which must be added more than 320 million in judicial and financial cost overruns, for sentences in costs, interest for delay and the hiring of consultants and lawyers.

Spain is the country with the highest number of outstanding awards (24), ahead of Venezuela (20) and Russia (10). Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Poland, Libya, Ukraine and Ecuador complete the top ten, followed by Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic and India. Croatia, Italy, Canada, Romania, Georgia and Colombia have an outstanding award, but the amount owed is only significant in the case of Croatia ($184M), while in the rest of the disputes we are talking about less than $20M.

The seizure of assets may end up resolving a large part of the debts accumulated by Venezuela, since the U.S. courts have ruled in favor of those affected and compensatory measures may soon be finalized that may end up resolving the disputes that are still in the air. For its part, throughout 2024, Ecuador has begun to settle its awards, Argentina is negotiating with its creditors and both Italy and Portugal have indicated their willingness to put an end to this problem.

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The Saga