The UNCITRAL Working Group tasked with considering proposed revisions to the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules met in New York from 5 to 9 February 2007. One of the areas under discussion relates to the possibility of special provisions to govern investor-state arbitrations. Although UNCITRAL arbitrations often involve private commercial parties, the UNCITRAL Rules are also commonly used to resolve investor-state disputes arising under international investment treaties. Proposals had been made as to how certain aspects of the UNCITRAL Rules could be modified to address the need for greater transparency in investor-state arbitrations, for example by the introduction of amicus curiae briefs and access to certain documents. However, the Working Group decided that these issues were best dealt with at a later stage in the revision process.

The Working Group did, however, consider the proposal for a general provision on confidentiality in the UNCITRAL Rules, which currently address the confidentiality of hearings and awards, but not the existence of the proceedings themselves. A more far-reaching confidentiality provision was rejected by the Working Group on the basis that it would be complicated to draft and unsustainable for certain types of arbitrations.

The Working Group is understood to have debated 20 of the 41 revised draft articles. The remaining proposed amendments are due to be discussed at the next session in Vienna in September 2007. Thereafter, the UNCITRAL secretariat will produced a second draft of the revised rules, at which time the difficult question of investor-state arbitrations will be re-addressed. The revision process is expected to be completed in 2008.