Squire Patton Boggs has successfully represented the Republic of Croatia before an International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes tribunal against a EUR 200 million claim brought by Marko Mihaljevic.
"In the case, Mihaljevic alleged that Croatia breached its obligations under the Croatia-Germany Bilateral Investment Treaty due to its actions related to a property located next to the Mirogoj cemetery, a historical landmark in Zagreb, allegedly owned by the claimant," Squire Patton Boggs informed.
"Mihaljevic had filed his first request for arbitration with ICSID in October 2019," the firm reported. "Shortly after, when he realized that he was a dual citizen of Croatia and Germany, Mihaljevic withdrew this request for arbitration and sought to terminate his Croatian citizenship. He then filed his second request for arbitration with ICSID in December 2019. At the time, under Croatian law, Mihaljevic was still a Croatian citizen – and remained so until May 2020."
According to Squire Patton Boggs, "Croatia claimed that Mihaljevic was precluded from bringing his claim because he failed to meet the jurisdictional requirements under Article 25 of the ICSID Convention, because of his Croatian citizenship. Specifically, Croatia claimed that Mihaljevic was a Croatian citizen on both the date of [his] consent and the date when his second request for arbitration was registered with ICSID."
Consequently, the firm reported that the tribunal agreed and unanimously declined jurisdiction, holding that Mihaljevic was a dual citizen of Croatia and Germany. In addition, the tribunal awarded Croatia all of its costs, including all legal fees.
The Squire Patton Boggs team included Bratislava-based Senior Associate Jakub Kamenicky, as well as lawyers from the firm’s New York and Paris offices.
