July 25, 2022: The Secretariats of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) have prepared an updated version of the Code of Conduct for Adjudicators in International Investment Disputes.
Version four of the draft Code of Conduct reflects extensive discussion and feedback on the original draft Code, which was published in May 2020, version two, published in April 2021, and version three, published in September 2021.
As with previous versions of the Code, each article in version four is accompanied by notes that identify issues for further consideration.
The latest draft follows two sessions of UNCITRAL’s Working Group III (Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform) in November 2021 and February 2022—as well as a series of informal meetings—in which UN and ICSID member States discussed the Code of Conduct.
The forty-third session of UNCITRAL’s Working Group III will be held in Vienna from September 5–16, 2022 during which the current iteration of the draft Code will be discussed, most likely during the second week of the session. ICSID and UNCITRAL also welcome feedback from all stakeholders. Comments on version four may be sent to the UNCITRAL Secretariat (uncitral@un.org) and ICSID Secretariat (icsidsecretariat@worldbank.org).
Background on the Draft Code of Conduct
The Code of Conduct is being developed jointly by the ICSID and UNCITRAL Secretariats in the context of UNCITRAL Working Group III (ISDS reform) and ICSID’s amendment of its procedural rules. It provides applicable principles and detailed provisions addressing matters such as independence and impartiality, and the duty to conduct proceedings with integrity, fairness, efficiency and civility. It draws from a comparative review of standards found in codes of conduct in investment treaties, arbitration rules applicable to investor-State dispute settlement, and of international courts.
Further information and resources related to the Code of Conduct are available on the UNCITRAL and ICSID websites:
- UNCITRAL website: https://uncitral.un.org/en/codeofconduct
- ICSID website: https://icsid.worldbank.org/resources/code-of-conduct