UNIS/L/369
14 January 2025

Panama signs the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration

VIENNA, 14 January (UN Information Service) – Panama signed the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration (the "Mauritius Convention on Transparency") at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 10 January 2025. Including Panama, there are 25 signatories and nine State Parties to the Convention. The signature coincides with the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Mauritius Convention on Transparency.

The Mauritius Convention on Transparency provides States and regional economic integration organizations with an efficient mechanism for making the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based investor-State Arbitration ("Rules on Transparency") applicable to investment treaties concluded prior to 1 April 2014. The Convention thus supplements pre-existing investment treaties with respect to transparency-related obligations. By becoming a party to the Convention, a State or regional economic integration organization expresses its consent to apply the Rules on Transparency to investor-State arbitration.

The Rules on Transparency are a set of procedural rules that provide for transparency of treaty-based investor-State arbitration and its accessibility to the public. Together with the Rules on Transparency, the Mauritius Convention on Transparency takes into account both the public interest in such arbitrations and the interest of the parties to resolve disputes in a fair and efficient manner.

The Transparency Registry (https://uncitral.un.org/transparencyregistry), maintained by the UNCITRAL secretariat, functions as a central repository to make investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) cases and related documents accessible to the public, free of charge. The European Union has agreed to provide financial support for the next three years to sustain the operation of the Transparency Registry and to promote the UNCITRAL Transparency Standards. The European Union has been a donor to the Transparency Registry since December 2015, when its financial support enabled the establishment of the Registry. The continued operation of the Transparency Registry has also benefited from financial support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ).

The Mauritius Convention on Transparency is open for signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession by States and regional economic integration organizations.

Up-to-date information about the parties and signatories to the Convention, is available on the UNCITRAL website: https://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:

Samira Musayeva
Senior Legal Officer, Head, Non-Legislative Section
UNCITRAL secretariat 
Email: samira.musayeva[at]un.org