Alexandre Genest

Associate, Steptoe International (UK) LLP, qualified in Québec, Canada (Lawyer)

London

+44 20 7367 8007

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Areas of Work

Investor-State Arbitration, International Arbitration, Public International Law, Trade Policy & Negotiations

Languages

English

French

Spanish

Overview

Alexandre Genest is an international arbitration practitioner with experience representing corporations, individuals and States in investor-State and commercial arbitrations.

Alexandre has significant international dispute settlement work experience covering investor-State disputes (ICSID, UNCITRAL, PCA, VIAC), commercial arbitration disputes (ICC) and State-to-State disputes (ICJ, WTO).

Alexandre also carries out legal advisory work for both corporations and States. In particular, Alexandre advises multinational corporations on Canadian sanctions law and modern slavery and supply chains law. Alexandre further advises governments on international trade law.

Over the past 15 years Alexandre worked for the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Government of Canada and as a lawyer in private practice.

Prior to joining Steptoe, Alexandre spent two and a half years as a Legal Affairs Officer at the WTO, serving as Deputy Secretary to the Dispute Settlement Body; Panel Secretary in the Costa Rica – Avocados dispute (DS524); and focal point member for the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement.

Prior to working at the WTO, Alexandre clerked with Judge Peter Tomka at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Alexandre worked on disputes before the ICJ and on investment treaty arbitrations in which Judge Tomka served as presiding arbitrator or annulment committee president.

Alexandre also previously worked as counsel for the Government of Canada with regard to a NAFTA Chapter Eleven investment treaty arbitration and the negotiation of the Canada – European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

Alexandre is a recognized thought leader in international investment law and international trade law. Alexandre has published extensively and has spoken at numerous international conferences in these fields and in public international law.

Alexandre lectured on international investment law at the Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London; on public international law at the University of Ottawa; and on comparative legal and economic integration and the law of the sea at Leiden University College.

Lawyer, Québec Bar

Ph.D., University of Leiden, 2017, International Law
Ph.D., University of Ottawa, 2017, International Law
Diploma in Public Administration, École Nationale D’Administration (ÉNA), 2011
Master’s Degree in Public Affairs (MPA) (M2), ÉNA-Université Paris-Dauphine, 2011
LL.B., Université de Montréal, 2005
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, 2004, Student Exchange Program – Faculty of Law

Areas of Work

Representative Matters

Investment Treaty Arbitration – ICSID and ad hoc

Counsel to investors in respect of an investment dispute with an Eastern European State arising from alleged breaches of a bilateral investment treaty. Concerns investment in a coal mine. A v. State B. UNCITRAL arbitration. VIAC Case No. OTH-3002. Ongoing.
Counsel to the investors (until April 2024) in an ongoing NAFTA Chapter Eleven arbitration concerning undue political interference in the environmental approvals process for a major LNG liquefaction facility and related pipeline. Ruby River v. Government of Canada. ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/23/5.
Counsel to investors in a NAFTA Chapter Eleven arbitration arising out of the summary termination without compensation of Ontario's greenhouse gas emissions control cap-and-trade program. Koch Industries, Inc. and Koch Supply & Trading, LP v. Government of Canada. ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/20/52. Concluded, claims dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.
Counsel to investors in an ICSID arbitration against an African State relating to the expropriation of a substantial aquaculture enterprise by The Gambia. West African Aquaculture Ltd v. The Republic of The Gambia. ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/18/10. Tribunal upheld our client’s claims and awarded 94% of damages claimed.
Assisted the external counsel to the European Union in an Energy Charter Treaty investment treaty arbitration concerning the extension of EU Energy Market rules to the operation of a major new LNG pipeline. Nord Stream 2 AG v. EU. UNCITRAL arbitration. PCA Case No. 2020-07. Ongoing.
Counsel to the investors in a dispute with the Czech Republic arising from breaches of the Czech Republic - Switzerland bilateral investment treaty regarding investments in the pharmaceutical sector. Diag Human SE and Mr. Josef Stava v. The Czech Republic. UNCITRAL arbitration. PCA Case No. 2018-20. Investors were awarded over $400 million in damages.
Counsel to Croatia in respect of an investment treaty dispute under the Austria-Croatia bilateral investment treaty concerning the currency conversion of home ownership loans from Swiss franc to Euro denominations as a protective financial services measure. Erste Group Bank AG and others v. Republic of Croatia. ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/17/49. Settled.
Counsel to Croatia in respect of an investment treaty dispute under the Austria-Croatia bilateral investment treaty concerning the currency conversion of home ownership loans from Swiss franc to Euro denominations as a protective financial services measure. Addiko Bank AG and Addiko Bank d.d. v. Republic of Croatia. ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/17/37. Discontinued.
Counsel to Croatia in respect of an investment treaty dispute under the Austria-Croatia bilateral investment treaty concerning the currency conversion of home ownership loans from Swiss franc to Euro denominations as a protective financial services measure. Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Raiffeisenbank Austria d.d. v. Republic of Croatia. ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/17/34. Settled.
Counsel to Croatia in the early stages of an ICSID claim brought pursuant to the Austria-Croatia bilateral investment treaty concerning the State conversion of home ownership loans from Swiss franc to Euro denominations as a protective financial services measure. UniCredit v. Republic of Croatia. ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/16/31. Settled.
Counsel to Canada in this NAFTA Chapter Eleven arbitration regarding the environmental designation of lands acquired for a quarry development. St Marys Cement VCNA v. Canada. PCA Case No. 2012-19. Settled.

International Commercial Arbitration

Assist the Steptoe counsel team representing a Korean/Spanish joint venture in an ongoing ICC arbitration following the disputed termination of their main English law-governed EPC contract to design and construct a biomass-fuelled power station in the UK.
Counsel in an arbitration arising from a complex, multi-part financing transaction.

WTO Dispute Settlement Proceedings

DS524 Costa Rica — Measures Concerning the Importation of Fresh Avocados from Mexico – Acted as Panel Secretary and Legal Affairs Officer servicing the WTO dispute settlement panel as a WTO Secretariat Staff member.

Trade & Investment Treaty Negotiations

Acted as part of the counsel team to the Government of Canada on the negotiation of the Canada - European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), with regard to the investment chapter.

Speaking Engagements

"Global Trade Challenges for the New Year," Young Diplomats in London, London, February 26, 2025
"Industrial Policy is Making a Comeback – With Some Investment Treaty Protections Standing in its Way," Manchester International Law Centre, Manchester, February 14, 2024
Moderator, "Does the ISDS System Need a Total Overhaul or Only Light Reform?", #YoungITATalks Africa-UK – International Arbitration: Friend or Foe of the Energy Transition? seminar, London, February 13, 2024
British Institute of International and Comparative Law and Steptoe International (UK) LLP, Launch event presentation, "Empirical study on performance requirement prohibitions (PRPs) in international investment agreements (IIAs)", January 18, 2024
Panelist, Semi-Finals, 21st Edition of the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition, World Trade Organization, Geneva, June 13-17, 2023
“Performance Requirement Prohibitions in Investment Treaties,” Summer Law School International Investment Law, August 25, 2021