For information only – not an official document
UNIS/L/321
16 September 2021
VIENNA, 16 September (UN Information Service) – The Expedited Arbitration Rules, adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on 21 July 2021, will enter into force on 19 September 2021. Expedited arbitration has been increasingly used in international commercial practice for parties to reach a final resolution of the dispute in a cost- and time-effective manner. The Expedited Arbitration Rules provide rules for parties to agree to a streamlined and simplified procedure with the award expected to be made within a short time frame. At the same time, the Expedited Arbitration Rules balance the efficiency of the arbitral proceedings and the rights of the parties to due process and fair treatment.
Presented as an appendix to the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, the Expedited Arbitration Rules consist of 16 articles and shall only apply when the parties agree to their application. The Expedited Arbitration Rules were prepared by UNCITRAL’s Working Group II, which is expected to finalize the accompanying explanatory note at its next session in late September. The text of the Expedited Arbitration Rules is contained in annex IV of the report of UNCITRAL on the work of its fifty-fourth session (available here). Information about the upcoming Working Group II session is available here.
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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 uncitral.un.org
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For information, please contact:
José Angelo Estrella Faria
Principal Legal Officer and Head, Legislative Branch
UNCITRAL Secretariat
Email: joseangelo.estrella-faria[at]un.org
