Following previous reports of the dispute between the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) with Belgium (see, for example, here), Lindeborg today filed a Request for Arbitration with the Additional Facility of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) under Article 12 of the Bilateral Investment Treaty between the Belgo-Luxemburg Economic Union and Libya.

The claim involves the attachment of LIA’s investments in Belgium through acts of the Belgian prosecution and judiciary for which Belgium is responsible under international law. The dispute emanates from a long-standing dispute between Libya and the Global Sustainable Development Trust (GSDT), a non-profit organization led by Belgian Crown Prince Laurent, and the asset freezing regulations taken by the United Nations Security Council in the wake of the Libyan Revolution of 2011.

As the Belgian Government has not taken LIA’s claim seriously, LIA saw no other solution than to submit its claim to international arbitration.