International Commercial Arbitration

Abstract

Arbitration has long been deeply rooted in the ideals of a universal organization, going back to the Covenant of the League of Nations. The United Nations has contributed to the development of international commercial arbitration over the past decades. The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) has promoted and developed various legal instruments in international commercial arbitration. Noteworthy, two conventions have been adopted by the United Nations: the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958) and the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration, also known as the Mauritius Convention on Transparency. This chapter provides a cross-cutting thematic analysis of the genesis, procedural history, and implementation of the two conventions. It further provides an assessment of whether they have been successful, and of the challenges that continue to be faced in their successful implementation. The chapter also briefly provides insights on the way forward, in light of the convention on international settlement agreements resulting from mediation finalized by UNCITRAL at its 51st session, in 2018, and the work undertaken by UNCITRAL on possible reform of the investor-state dispute settlement regime.