United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

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Context

• Three Mauritius-based investors were awarded $111 million in compensation by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) tribunal over the failed Devas-Antrix satellite deal.

United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

About

• The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) commercial international (CNUDCI) is a subsidiary body of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) responsible for helping to facilitate international trade and investment.

Establishment and Mandate

• Established by the UNGA in 1966, UNCITRAL's official mandate is "to promote the progressive harmonization and unification of international trade law" through conventions, model laws, and other instruments that address key areas of commerce, from dispute resolution to the procurement and sale of goods.

Headquarter

• UNCITRAL carries out its work at annual sessions held alternately in New York City and Vienna, where it is headquartered.

Members

• UNCITRAL is made up of 70 elected Member States representing different geographic regions.
• The Commission member States are elected by the General Assembly.
• Membership is structured so as to be representative of the world's various geographic regions and its principal economic and legal systems.
• Members of the commission are elected for terms of six years, the terms of half the members expiring every three years.

UNCITRAL’s Activities

• Coordinating the work of active organizations and encouraging cooperation among them.
• Promoting wider participation in existing international conventions and wider acceptance of existing models and uniform laws.
• Preparing or promoting the adoption of new international conventions, model laws, and uniform laws and promoting the codification and wider acceptance of international trade terms, provisions, customs, and practice, in collaboration, where appropriate, with the organizations operating in this field.
• Promoting ways and means of ensuring a uniform interpretation and application of international conventions and uniform laws in the field of the law of international trade.
• Collecting and disseminating information on national legislation and modern legal developments, including case law, in the field of the law of international trade.
• Establishing and maintaining a close collaboration with the UN Conference on Trade and Development.
• Maintaining liaison with other UN organs and specialized agencies concerned with international trade.

UNCITRAL conventions

• the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention) (1958)
• the Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods (1974)
• the United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea (1978)
• the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (1980)
• the United Nations Convention on International Bills of Exchange and International Promissory Notes (1988)
• the United Nations Convention on the Liability of Operators of Transport Terminals in International Trade (1991)
• the United Nations Convention on Independent Guarantees and Stand-by Letters of Credit (1995)
• the United Nations Convention on the Assignment of Receivables in International Trade (2001)
• the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (2005)
• the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (2008)
• the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration (2015)
• the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (the Singapore Convention on Mediation) (2018)
• the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (2022)