For information only - not an official document
UNIS/L/272
15 February 2019
VIENNA, 15 February (UN Information Service) - The Government of the Dominican Republic hosted an inter-sessional regional meeting on investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) reform with the purpose of raising awareness in Latin-America and the Caribbean on the work currently undertaken by the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
State delegates and observer organizations representing various stakeholders participated in the intersessional meeting to present the various initiatives and discuss ISDS-related topics of particular concern in the region.
A report summarizing the deliberations of the intersessional meeting will be made available on the UNCITRAL website for consideration at the forthcoming session of UNCITRAL Working Group III (ISDS Reform), to be held in New York from 1 - 5 April 2019 (at https://uncitral.un.org/en/working_groups/3/investor-state ).
European Union and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GIZ support travel of representatives from developing States to the intersessional meeting
In recognition of the importance of the topic under consideration and of the significance of inclusive and diverse representation to the intersessional meeting, the European Union and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GIZ provided financial assistance to support the participation of developing States at the inter-sessional regional meeting. Delegates at the inter-sessional regional meeting expressed their appreciation for these contributions, which will enhance the level of participation in the deliberations of Working Group III.
Other donors wishing to contribute to enable participation of developing States to UNCITRAL sessions in general should contact the UNCITRAL Secretariat for further information.
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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. In the field of ISDS, UNCITRAL adopted Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration (Transparency Rules) in 2013 to provide a procedural framework for making information available to the public on investment arbitration cases arising under relevant investment treaties concluded after 1 April 2014. The United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration, which came into force in October 2017, provides a mechanism for the application of the Transparency Rules to arbitration cases arising under the almost 3,000 investment treaties concluded before 1 April 2014.
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. For more information, visit: uncitral.un.org.
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For information, please contact:
José Angelo
Estrella-Faria
Senior Legal Officer
UNCITRAL Secretariat
Email: joseangelo.estrella-faria[at]un.org
