The European Commission’s proposed new investment protection measures would not stop corporations suing governments as has happened under existing free trade agreements, a new study has claimed.

THE US Supreme Court threw out a $79.5 million (€60.5m) punitive damages award to a smoker’s widow yesterday, a boom to businesses seeking stricter limits on big-dollar jury verdicts.

Philip Morris lawyers have urged a judge to slash a $3bn (£2.1bn) punitive damages award to a cancer-stricken smoker and to grant a retrial.