44th session of the UNCITRAL Working Group III: Code of Conduct for Arbitrators, its Enforcement, Corruption Allegations in ISDS

44th session of the UNCITRAL Working Group III: Code of Conduct for Arbitrators, its Enforcement, Corruption Allegations in ISDS

The UNCITRAL Group III on investor-state dispute settlement reform met on 23-27 January 2023 in Vienna and focused on the commentary on the draft code of conduct for adjudicators in ISDS and the appellate mechanism. On 24 January Vladimir Kozin and I presented key findings of the UNODC ongoing study on corruption allegations in ISDS.…

UNCITRAL investor-state dispute settlement reform group makes progress despite disagreements

UNCITRAL investor-state dispute settlement reform group makes progress despite disagreements

Earlier this month I had the honour of participating in the 43rd session of the UNCITRAL Working Group III Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform, which took place in Vienna. The session demonstrated that although the group is making progress, on a number of issues disagreements persist between various states. This brief summary highlights some highlights of…

Corporate restructuring and frivolous claims in investor-state dispute settlement

Corporate restructuring and frivolous claims in investor-state dispute settlement

Today I made an intervention on corporate restructuring and frivolous claims during the session of the Working Group III: Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform. Thank you Mr. Chair for the opportunity to address the distinguished audience. In its intervention, Australia mentioned the problem of corporate restructuring and frivolous claims. Indeed, efforts to create a new and…

Security for costs in investment arbitration – a rare exception rather than a rule

Security for costs in investment arbitration – a rare exception rather than a rule

Today I made an intervention as an observer at the UNCITRAL Working Group III session currently taking place in Vienna (in the online format). The representatives of Bahrain, Switzerland and other States mentioned in their session interventions that the situations were security for costs requested were granted. Now we actually have empirical data to back…