4.1 Introduction

1. Article 2 regulates the publication of information at the commencement of arbitral proceedings. It does so in a rather concise manner, as it only consists of one paragraph. From a systematic point of view, Article 2 is the first provision of the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration (the Rules) to deal substantively with the issue of transparency, after the meticulous definition of the scope of application of the Rules provided by Article 1. Articles 2 to 6 establish the transparency obligations introduced by the Rules. Article 2 makes an express reference to Article 8, which is concerned with the repository of published information.

2. Article 2 imposes the first transparency obligation also from a chronological perspective. The temporal reference point for Article 2 is the commencement of the arbitration, i.e., the moment when the Respondent received the notice of arbitration. Article 3(2) of the Arbitration Rules (2010) stipulates: ‘Arbitral proceedings shall be deemed to commence on the date on which the notice of arbitration is received by the respondent’. Consequently, as soon as the arbitration commences, the transparency mechanism of Article 2 is triggered.

3. Article 2 imposes two obligations. The first one is the obligation for the parties to communicate a copy of the notice of arbitration to the repository. The second obligation requires the repository to make available to the public information regarding the name of the disputing parties, the economic sector involved and the treaty under which the claim is being made.