LKK MEMBERS CONTRIBUTE CIDS PAPER FOR UNCITRAL ON INVESTMENT ARBITRATION REFORM

As part of a project carried out under the aegis of the Center for International Dispute Settlement (CIDS, a joint research center of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and the University of Geneva), LKK partner Prof. Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler and senior associate Dr. Michele Potestà have prepared, in collaboration with a team of CIDS researchers, a paper entitled “Can the Mauritius Convention serve as a model for the reform of Investor-State arbitration in connection with the introduction of a permanent investment tribunal or an appeal mechanism? Analysis and roadmap”.

The CIDS Research Paper will be presented by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Secretariat to the Commission at its forthcoming session in July 2016, among possible topics for future work of UNCITRAL Working Group II (Arbitration and Conciliation). It can be downloaded from the UNCITRAL website.

As also explained in the UNCITRAL Secretariat’s note to the attention of the Commission of 24 May 2016, the research paper seeks to analyze whether the Mauritius Convention on Transparency could provide a useful model for broader reform of the investor-State arbitration framework. To this end, the paper proposes a possible roadmap that could be followed if States were to decide to pursue a reform initiative aimed at replacing or supplementing the existing investor-State arbitration regime in international investment agreements with a permanent investment tribunal and/or an appeal mechanism for investor-State arbitral awards.

For more information on the CIDS: http://www.cids.ch/. For information on the UNCITRAL Commission’s work in connection with the CIDS Research Paper: http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/commission/sessions/49th.html.