New UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules on Transparency: Application, Content and Next Steps

Authors

Lise Johnson, Columbia Law School, Columbia Center on Sustainable InvestmentFollow
Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2014

Abstract

In July 2013, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted a package of rules aiming to ensure transparency in investor-State arbitration (the “Rules on Transparency”), ratifying the work done by delegations to UNCITRAL – comprised of 55 Member States, additional observer States and observer organizations – over the course of nearly three years of negotiations.

Under previous versions of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, disputes between investors and States were often not made public, even where important public policies were involved or illegal or corrupt business practices were uncovered. In contrast, the new rules, which will officially come into effect on April 1, 2014, provide for a significant degree of openness throughout the arbitral proceedings.

Disciplines

Antitrust and Trade Regulation | Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | International Law | International Trade Law | Law | Securities Law | Transnational Law

Recommended Citation

Lise Johnson & Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, New UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules on Transparency: Application, Content and Next Steps, 4(4) Investment Treaty News (2014).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sustainable_investment_staffpubs/67