UNCITRAL WORKING GROUP III SIDE EVENT: BUILDING BLOCKS FOR A NEW ISDS SYSTEM

PCA Side Event for Delegates of UNCITRAL Working Group III

Building Blocks for a New ISDS System
Technical Challenges and Solutions

3 April 2019, 1:15 pm–2:30 pm
Conference Room 8

This side event is intended to provide technical background information to the discussions in UNCITRAL Working Group III by examining the legal feasibility of reform options involving the creation of a new dispute settlement mechanism. The event draws on expertise from both within and outside the ISDS regime, including the practice of administrative courts at national level, the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, inter-State litigation and arbitration, and international administrative courts such as the UN Dispute and Appeals Tribunals. By canvassing experiences across these different regimes, the event aims to assist delegates in identifying the key building blocks of an effective and legitimate dispute settlement mechanism. The discussion will highlight how different institutional structures and procedural mechanisms may support the decision-making process. The discussion will also examine how governance arrangements in different institutions have been designed to balance judicial independence and accountability.

Welcome Remarks

Hugo Hans Siblesz (Secretary-General, Permanent Court of Arbitration)

Interactive Panel Discussion

Discussants:

Aloysius Llamzon (Senior Associate, King & Spalding; Lecturer, Ateneo de Manila Law School)

Mariana Mota Prado (Associate Professor & Associate Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto)

Jan Yves Remy (Deputy Director, Shridath Ramphal Centre of Trade Policy, The University of the West Indies; former Legal Officer at the WTO Appellate Body Secretariat, former Senior Associate, Sidley Austin LLP)

Christian Rohde (Principal Registrar, Dispute and Appeals Tribunals of the United Nations)

Moderator:

Dirk Pulkowski (Senior Legal Counsel, Permanent Court of Arbitration)

Conclusions

Hugo Hans Siblesz (Secretary-General, Permanent Court of Arbitration)