The UIHJ is an observer member of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). UNCITRAL was established in 1966 by the General Assembly of the United Nations. UNCITRAL has since become the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. UNCITRAL comprises 60 member States elected by the United Nations General Assembly for a term of six years. UNCITRAL produces several different types of legislative texts: conventions, model laws, legislative guides, and model provisions.
UNCITRAL has established six working groups that are working on the following topics:
- Working Group I: Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
- Working Group II: Dispute Settlement
- Working Group III: Online Dispute resolution
- Working group IV: Electronic Commerce
- Working Group V: Insolvency Law
- Working Group VI: Security Interests
The Working Groups comprise the 60 UNCITRAL Member States. Non-member States and interested international and regional organizations are also invited and can actively contribute to the work since decisions are taken by consensus, not by vote. Draft texts completed by these working groups are submitted to UNCITRAL for finalization and adoption at its annual session.
Within Working Group II, UNCITRAL is preparing an instrument on enforcement of international commercial settlement agreements resulting from conciliation. In this context, the UIHJ was invited to participate in the work as an observer. Its Secretary General, Mathieu Chardon, represented the UIHJ and attended part of the work.
The 65th Session of Working Group II was held at the Vienna International Centre. Renaud Sorieul, Secretary of UNCITRAL, opened the session. Natalie Morris Sharma (Singapore) chaired the works with great expertise. The discussions mainly focused on the working document prepared for this purpose by the secretariat of UNCITRAL. It was thoroughly debated and discussed point by point. After the session, a draft report prepared by the secretariat was presented for adoption. The tentative dates of the 66th session of the Working Group II to be held in New York are from 6 to 10 February 2017.
Learn more about UNCITRAL:
http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/index.html
