UNIS/L/361
8 July 2024

Another major reform to investor-State dispute settlement undertaken by the UN Commission on International Trade Law

VIENNA, 8 July 2024 (UN Information Service) – More than 200 representatives of States and international organizations finalized another major reform in investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) at the 57th session of the UN Commission on International Trade Law, currently being held in New York.

During the second week of the annual session, the Commission adopted in principle the statute that will form the basis for the establishment of an advisory centre on international investment dispute resolution (the “Centre”). Once established and operational, the Centre is expected to provide crucial legal services in the field of ISDS including training and representation support with the aim of enhancing the capacity of States to prevent and handle international investment disputes, especially least developed countries and developing countries. Further preparatory work will be conducted in the coming months to operationalize the Centre, with the Commission closely monitoring the progress.

The draft statute was prepared by Working Group III of the Commission, which was mandated to carry out ISDS reform in 2017. The first set of ISDS reform elements were adopted at the last year’s Commission session (see UNIS/L/344)

Additional information can be found on the UNCITRAL website: uncitral.un.org.

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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. For more information, visit: 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@un.org