The Work of UNCITRAL Working Group III

This article seeks to trace how the multilateral processes of deliberation, debate, and decision-making within the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) shape the outcomes that are emerging from the negotiations on reform of investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) in Working Group III. The article explores how the Working Group came to receive its mandate and how that mandate was defined, before turning to its working methods. After identifying key junctures and decision-making points in the eight years of negotiations, highlighting how the Working Group’s methods and procedures have influenced the framing and resolution of contentious issues, the article reviews the status of each of the current ‘reform elements’ under development. This is also an opportunity to consider the way in which issues have been grouped together and what has slipped off the agenda. A final section introduces the other contributions to the Special Issue.