On 7 and 8 March, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of European Union organised the 7th intersessional meeting of UNCITRAL: United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Working Group III on the reform of investor-state dispute settlement. On 7 March, I had the pleasure to chair the introductory panel on “Improving Access to Justice for All” together with WGIII Rapporteur Natalie Y. Morris-Sharma, UNCTAD‘s Vincent M. Beyer, professor Catharine Titi and ClientEarth‘s Amandine Van Den Berghe.
Our panel discussed how efficiency, legal certainty and the preservation of host states’ policy space can contribute to ‘justice’, and how the various measures proposed in WG III, ranging from a standing mechanism over an advisory centre on ISDS, counterclaims, non-disputing party interventions, amicus curiae interventions, to mediation, etc., can improve access to ISDS.
My congratulations and gratitude to Belgium’s Bernard Quintin, Christophe Payot, Laurence Bielen, Gauthier Masco, and to UNCITRAL WGIII’s driving forces Shane Spelliscy, Natalie Y. Morris-Sharma, Anna Joubin-Bret, Jae Sung Lee, Judith Knieper, Corentin Baslé, Hana Doumal, and so many other delegates and experts.
