For information only - not an official document
UNIS/L/281
30 September 2019
VIENNA, 30 September 2019 (UN Information Service) - On 25 and 26 September 2019, the Government of Guinea hosted the third inter-sessional regional meeting on investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) reform, in partnership with the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the International Organization of la Francophonie.
State delegates and regional organizations from the African continent and elsewhere participating in the inter-sessional meeting presented the various regional initiatives on ISDS and discussed ISDS-related topics of concern in the region. A specific attention was given to proposals for reform of ISDS submitted to UNCITRAL Working Group III (https://undocs.org/en/A/CN.9/WG.III/WP.166), with Mali, South Africa and Morocco among the States having made specific proposals in that respect.
A report summarizing the deliberations of the inter-sessional 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 Vienna from 14 - 18 October 2019 (at https://uncitral.un.org/en/working_groups/3/investor-state ).
The UNCITRAL Secretariat would like to thank France, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GIZ, the European Union and the International Organisation of la Francophonie, which provided financial assistance to support the participation of developing States at the inter-sessional regional meeting.
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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, and maintains a website at https://uncitral.un.org/ .
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For more information please contact:
José Angelo
Estrella Faria
Principal Legal Officer and Head, Legislative Branch
UNCITRAL Secretariat
Email: joseangelo.estrella-faria[at]un.org
