For information only - not an official document
UNIS/L/234
8 July 2016
VIENNA, 8 July (UN Information Service) - The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted the second edition of the UNCITRAL Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings (the "Notes") at its meeting in New York yesterday, 7 July.
The Notes are a key resource for parties to arbitration and arbitration practitioners. They list and describe the typical matters for consideration in the organization of an arbitral proceeding and cover a broad range of situations. The Notes were originally finalized by UNCITRAL in 1996 and, in light of evolving practice, the Commission started to work on updating them in 2014.
The Notes, prepared with a focus on international arbitration, are intended to be used in a general and universal manner, regardless of whether the arbitration is administered on an ad hoc basis or by an arbitral institution. Given that procedural styles and practices in arbitration do vary and that each of them has its own merit, the Notes do not seek to promote any practice as best practice.
The Commission also heard a presentation on the Guide on the New York Convention, as well as on the related online platform, www.newyorkconvention1958.org, which provides freely accessible case law from across the globe on the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (1958). This continuously updated compilation includes summaries and full texts of case law in a highly searchable format, and it represents a unique and wide-ranging effort to disseminate source information to a broad audience. The Guide on the New York Convention will be published this year. A pre-publication version is available at www.newyorkconvention1958.org.
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The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. Its mandate is to remove legal obstacles to international trade by progressively modernizing and harmonizing trade law. It prepares legal texts in a number of key areas such as international commercial dispute settlement, electronic commerce, insolvency, international payments, sale of goods, transport law, procurement and infrastructure development. UNCITRAL also provides technical assistance to law reform activities, including assisting Member States to review and assess their law reform needs and to draft the legislation required to implement UNCITRAL texts. The UNCITRAL Secretariat is located in Vienna, Austria , and maintains a website at www.uncitral.org.
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For information contact:
Timothy
Lemay
Principal Legal Officer
UNCITRAL Secretariat
Email: timothy.lemay[at]uncitral.org
