For information only - not an official document
UNIS/L/289
24 January 2020
VIENNA, 24 January (UN Information Service) - The UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III has made steady progress towards the reform of the current investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) system as it ends a week of work in Vienna.
More than 400 delegates representing 106 States, with some States participating in Working Group discussions for the first time and 66 international organizations and non-governmental organizations lending their insight and expertise to the group, deliberated on the introduction of an appeal mechanism to ensure correctness and consistency of decisions, the possibility of establishing a standing multilateral investment court with judges as well as new approaches in the selection and appointment of ISDS tribunals, to address concerns identified in the first two phases of the mandate. A report of this week's discussions will be available on the UNCITRAL website.
France, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the European Union continued to support the attendance of developing States.
The Working Group will reconvene in New York (30 March to 3 April 2020), to continue its work on ISDS reform.
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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 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
