Submission to Working Group II on International Arbitration - Vienna October 1-5, 2012 - Comments on Draft Articles 1, 3, 7 and 8

In 2010, Working Group II on International Arbitration launched work on its mandate from the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) to draft a legal standard to ensure transparency in investor-State arbitration.

The October 2012 Working Group session has reviewed a set of draft proposed rules aimed at addressing the scope of application of the new rules of transparency, the content of proposed disclosure requirements, and exceptions from those requirements. Although many aspects of the rules represent notable progress toward the goal of ensuring transparency in investor-State arbitration, certain issues remain that threaten to undermine the ultimate effectiveness of the new transparency rules. This paper highlights those issues and proposes changes to some of the draft rules in order to keep those rules in close alignment with the Commission's mandate.