For information only - not an official document
UNIS/L/244
19 April 2017
VIENNA, 19 April (UN Information Service) - On 18 April 2017, Switzerland ratified the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration ("The Mauritius Convention on Transparency"). Following this, the Convention will enter into force in six months on 18 October 2017. Switzerland is the third State to ratify the Convention, following the ratification by Canada on 12 December 2016 and by Mauritius on 5 June 2015.
The Mauritius Convention on Transparency aims to provide States and regional economic integration organizations with an efficient mechanism that extends the scope of the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based investor-State Arbitration ("Rules on Transparency") to investment treaties concluded before the Rules entered into force on 1 April 2014. The Rules on Transparency provide procedural rules that ensure transparency and public accessibility to treaty-based investor-State arbitration, the proceedings of which have traditionally been conducted behind closed doors. Together with the Rules on Transparency, the Mauritius Convention on Transparency takes into account both the public interest in such arbitrations and the interest of the parties to resolve disputes in a fair and efficient manner. It is expected that the Convention will significantly contribute to enhancing transparency in investor-State dispute settlement.
The Convention is open for signature, ratification, and accession by States and regional economic integration organizations. During the signing ceremony held at Port Louis, Mauritius on 17 March 2015, eight States (Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Mauritius, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States) signed the Mauritius Convention on Transparency. Since then, the Convention has been signed by a further ten States: Belgium, Congo, Gabon, Italy, Luxembourg, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Iraq, Switzerland and Syria. For up-to-date information about the parties to the Convention as well as its signatories, please see the UNCITRAL website.
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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
