13-07-2015 00:00
Presentation by Mr Renaud Sorieul, UNCITRAL Secretary-General

Brussels

UNCITRAL is a Commission established by the UN General Assembly with a mandate to harmonize and modernize international trade law.

Since its creation UNCITRAL has contributed to developing international standards in the field of arbitration as a peaceful means for settling international disputes.

The Rules on Transparency provide a procedural regime allowing broader access by the public to documents or open hearings related to investment disputes.

One of the concerns about investment arbitration is the fact that the relevant procedures and their results are kept fully confidential even when the dispute involves matters of public interest.

Since the Rules on Transparency only apply to investment agreements concluded after the adoption of the Rules, UNCITRAL prepared a voluntary complementary convention to make the rules applicable also to existing investment treaties.