REG - Zenith Energy Ltd - Broadening of legal team in ICSID Arbitration

Zenith EnergyAnnouncement

03/12/2025 07:45

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20251203:nRSC0465Ka&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 0465K  Zenith Energy Ltd  03 December 2025

December 3, 2025

ZENITH ENERGY LTD.

("Zenith" or the "Company")

Broadening of legal team in ICSID Arbitration

Zenith Energy Ltd. ("Zenith" or the "Company") (LSE: ZEN; OSE: ZENA; XSAT:
ZENA SDR), the listed international energy production and development
company, is delighted to announce the appointment of Ben Juratowitch KC and
Matthieu Gregoire, both barristers at Essex Court Chambers, to further broaden
and complement the legal team of its claimant subsidiaries in the arbitration
proceedings brought before the International Centre for Settlement of
Investment Disputes ("ICSID") under the UK-Tunisia Bilateral Investment
Treaty, against the Republic of Tunisia, led by Professor Thomas Clay (Clay
Arbitration) alongside Simon Le Wita (Charles Russell Speechlys Paris).

Ben Juratowitch KC

Ben Juratowitch KC is a specialist in public international law and
international arbitration with more than two decades of experience acting for
sovereign states, international organisations and multinational corporations.
Before joining the Bar, he served as the global Head of Public International
Law at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. He was appointed King's Counsel in
2017.

He has acted in proceedings before the International Court of Justice and in
arbitrations conducted under ICSID, UNCITRAL, PCA and ICC rules. His work
includes inter-state territorial and maritime boundary disputes, treaty
interpretation, the law of the sea, state immunity, diplomatic protection and
claims brought under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties. He also
represents both investors and states in investor-state arbitrations and
international commercial disputes involving complex legal and geopolitical
issues.

Ben has held academic positions at the University of Paris V, where he taught
international dispute resolution from 2009 to 2020, and at the London School
of Economics as a Visiting Fellow. He holds a DPhil and BCL from the
University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a University Medal
for Law from the University of Queensland. His work has been recognised with
awards including Silk of the Year for International Arbitration (Legal 500,
2023) and selection to Global Arbitration Review's "45 under 45".

Matthieu Gregoire

Matthieu Gregoire is an advocate specialising in commercial litigation,
international commercial arbitration and investor-state arbitration. He
advises and represents governments, corporations and individuals in disputes
across sectors including energy, mining, manufacturing and financial services,
often involving allegations of civil fraud and other cross-border misconduct.

He has appeared before all levels of the English courts and has extensive
experience in investment treaty arbitration under ICSID, SCC, UNCITRAL and ad
hoc rules, including matters arising under the OIC Investment Agreement and
intra-EU bilateral investment treaties. His commercial arbitration practice
spans ICC, LCIA, SCC and UNCITRAL rules and frequently involves issues of
foreign law, jurisdiction and enforcement. He also advises on public
international law and international economic law, including WTO matters and
treaty interpretation.

Matthieu has taught international commercial arbitration as an Adjunct
Professor at Pepperdine University's London campus since 2015. He was
appointed to the Attorney General's Public International Law C Panel in 2017.
He holds an LLM from Georgetown University, a Master's degree from Sciences Po
and a BA in Law from the University of Cambridge.

Essex Court Chambers

Essex Court Chambers is a leading group of specialist barristers with deep
experience in international arbitration and public international law-expertise
directly relevant to the ICSID arbitration brought by the Company's UK
subsidiaries under the UK-Tunisia Bilateral Investment Treaty. Its members
regularly act in significant investor-state disputes under the ICSID
Convention and other major arbitral frameworks, and frequently appear before
the English courts in matters concerning arbitration, enforcement and interim
measures.

Andrea Cattaneo, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"The legal team, led by Professor Thomas Clay and comprised of Maître Simon
Le Wita of Charles Russell Speechlys Paris, is already exceptionally strong
and has thoroughly and robustly presented the merits of the position in
progressing the ICSID arbitration brought by the Company's UK subsidiaries
under the UK-Tunisia Bilateral Investment Treaty. The Company is very pleased
to further complement and broaden the skillset and expertise of this team with
the addition of Ben Juratowitch KC and Matthieu Gregoire. Ben brings extensive
experience in public international law and investor-state arbitration,
including acting in proceedings before the International Court of Justice and
multiple ICSID tribunals. Matthieu adds significant expertise in commercial
and investment treaty arbitration, including disputes involving states and
cross-border allegations of misconduct. Their combined experience is directly
relevant to the issues at the centre of the UK-Tunisia 1989 Bilateral
Investment Treaty, and their arrival adds further depth to the representation
at a seminal juncture in the ICSID arbitration against the Republic of
Tunisia.

We look forward to the final hearings in April 2026 with well-grounded
optimism and a sincere belief in redress and compensation for the prolonged
damages suffered by the Company's UK subsidiary claimants, which have been
significantly impaired as a result of arbitrary and unlawful conduct that has
resulted in the sequestration and expropriatory termination of their
activities and assets. All members of the legal team share a clear and
unshakable assessment of the strength of the position, supported by the
extensive preparation undertaken to date. The Company remains firmly focused
on securing redress for the significant damage its UK subsidiary
claimants have suffered in Tunisia, and which, as recent events
demonstrate, the UK subsidiary claimants continue to suffer because of
arbitrary and unlawful conduct by the authorities in the Republic of Tunisia.
The next five months will have a transformational impact on the Zenith Group,
and every possible action will be taken to defend the rights of the Company's
UK subsidiary claimants and vindicate the merits of their position."

 

Further Information:

 Zenith Energy Ltd

 Andrea Cattaneo, Chief Executive Officer

                                            Tel: +1 (587) 315 1279

                                            E: info@zenithenergy.ca

 

Notes to Editors:

Zenith Energy Ltd. is a revenue generating, independent energy company with
energy production, exploration and development assets in North Africa, the US
and Europe.

Zenith Energy is listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market (LSE:ZEN),
has its entire common share capital admitted to trading on the Euronext Growth
of the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE:ZENA), and has Swedish Depository Receipts
admitted to the Spotlight Stock Market in Sweden (XSAT: ZENA SDR).

Zenith's strategic focus is on pursuing development opportunities through the
development of proven revenue generating energy production assets, as well as
low-risk exploration activities in assets with existing production.

For more information, please visit: www.zenithenergy.ca

Twitter: @zenithenergyltd

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3A5PRJb (https://bit.ly/3A5PRJb)

 
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of
the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of
this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside
information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

 

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDFIFVDFFLVIIE



            Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved