Saudi Arabia participates in 56th session of UNCITRAL in Vienna

Saudi Arabia is participating in the 56th session of the UN Commission on International Trade Law at the UNCITRAL headquarters in Vienna, Austria, represented by the National Competitiveness Center.

Also in attendance are specialists and experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Investment, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport and Logistic Services, the Board of Grievances, the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha’at), the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration, and the Bankruptcy Commission.

UNCITRAL carries out its work at annual sessions held alternately in New York and Vienna. Its committee approves final versions of draft legal texts prepared by its working groups, and considers legal topics and projects which the groups will work on in future sessions.

The agenda of the 56th session, running to July 21, includes following up on developments in international trade law, discussing important reforms and proposals, and monitoring developments related to the collection of case law based on UNCITRAL texts. The CLOUT system, which is an international platform for disseminating information on the provisions of courts and arbitral tribunals based on conventions and model laws of the commission, is also on the agenda.

In addition the committee is working on topics and projects including texts prepared on the reform of the dispute settlement system between investors and states, the code of conduct for arbitrators and judges in settling international investment disputes, principles related to investment mediation, facilitating access of credit for micro, small and medium enterprises, guidance for early dismissal, and preliminary determination for inclusion in the UNCITRAL notes on the regulation of arbitral proceedings.

Several conferences and seminars will be held on the sidelines of the committee session, most importantly the investment dispute prevention forum, a seminar on damages in the investor-state dispute settlement system and the perspective of developing countries, a seminar on the implementation of the code of conduct in the field of international investment and dispute resolution, and a seminar of the UNCITRAL Committee on Changing Climate and International Trade Law.