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The UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules: A Commentary. By David D. Caron, Lee M. Caplan, and Matti Pellonpää. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Pp. xlii, 1066. Index. $225, £135.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

Paul D. Friedland
Affiliation:
White & Case LLP (New York)
Lucy Martinez
Affiliation:
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (New York)

Abstract

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Type
Recent Books on International Law
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2007

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References

1 See UN Conference on Trade and Development, Investor-State Disputes Arising from Investment Treaties: A Review, at 3, UN Doc. UNCTAD/ITE/IIT/ 2005/4 (Jan. 2, 2006), available at <http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/iteiit20054_en.pdf=Google Scholar [hereinafter UNCTAD Report].

2 See Jan, Paulsson & Georgios, Petrochilos, Revision of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, at 2-3 (n.d.), at <http://www.uncitral.org/pdf/english/news/arbrules_report.pdf=.Google Scholar

3 See UNCTAD Report, supra note 1, at 3.

4 See Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States, Mar. 18, 1965, Art. 25 (“The jurisdiction of the Centre shall extend to any legal dispute arising directly out of an investment, between a Contracting State . . . and a national of another Contracting State, which the parties to the dispute consent in writing to submit to the Centre.”).

5 See, e.g., Stewart, Abercrombie Baker & Mark, David Davis, The Uncitral Arbitration Rules in Practice: The Experience of The Iran-United States Claims Tribunal (1992)Google Scholar; Jacomijn, J. Van Hof, Commentary on The Uncitral Arbitration Rules: The Application by The Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal (1991)Google Scholar; Isaak, I. Dore, Arbitration and Conciliation Under the Uncitral Rules: A Textual Analysis (1986)Google Scholar; Pieter, Sanders, The Work of Uncitral on Arbitration and Conciliation (2d ed. 2004)Google Scholar (discussing the UNCITRAL Rules and Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, but not including Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal sources).

6 The travaux prépamtoires for the UNCITRAL Rules are also available through the UNCITRAL Web site, which contains links to documents from various UNCITRAL Commission session discussions. See <http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/uncitral_texts/arbitration/1976Arbitration_rules_travaux.html=.

7 It is to be hoped that the authors will enter into an agreement with an online publishing company to enable the treatise to be accessed electronically. Kluwer arbitration.com, for example, has the full text of several leading arbitration treatises, including Yves, Derains & Eric, A. Schwartz, A Guide to The Icc Rules of Arbitration (2d ed. 2005), and Fouchard, Gaillard, Goldman On International Commercial Arbitration (Emmanuel, Gaillard & John, Savage eds., 1999).Google Scholar

8 See generally the Tribunal’s Web site, <http://www.iusct.org=.

9 Christopher, S. Gibson & Christopher, R. Drahozal, Iran-United States Claim Tribunal Precedent in Investor- State Arbitration, 23 J. Int’l Arb. 521 (2006).Google Scholar

10 Id. at 539.

11 Id. The four most cited Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal awards are Amoco International Finance, Phillips Petroleum, Starrett Housing, and Tippetts

12 See, for example, the UK/Ukraine bilateral investment treaty (BIT), Agreement Between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ukraine for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, Feb. 10, 1993, Art. 8 (referring both to the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and to the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules “as then in force”), and the Egypt/ Greece BIT, Agreement Between the Hellenic Republic and the Arab Republic of Egypt for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, July 16, 1993, Art. 10 (referring to the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules “as then in force”). A full-text compilation of these and other BITs is available at <http://www.unctadxi.org/templates/DocSearch____779.aspx=.

13 See, for example, the 2004 U.S. model bilateral investment treaty, Art. 24 (referring to the UNCITRAL Rules), at <http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Sectors/Investment/Model_BIT/Section_Index.html=. Cf. Agreement Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, Nov. 20, 1989, Art. IX (specifically referring to arbitration under the 1976 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules).

14 UN Secretariat, Note: Settlement of Commercial Disputes: Revision of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, paras. 8-11, UN Doc. A/CN.9/WG.II/WP.143 (July 20,2006), available at <http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/commission/working_groups/2Arbitration.html=.

15 One proposed revision of the relevant UNCITRAL rule relating to applicable law, Article 33, recognizes that not all arbitrations under the rules are commenced on the basis of a contract. The current provision, Article 33(3), requires the tribunal to decide the dispute “in accordance with the terms of the contract and shall take into account the usages of the trade applicable to the transaction.” The proposed revision requires the tribunal to decide the dispute “in accordance with the terms of the parties’ contract, if any, and the usages of the trade applicable to the transaction.” Paulsson & Petrochilos, supra note 2, at 138-39 (emphasis added).

16 See, e.g., Telenor Mobile Commc’ns A.S. v. Republic of Hungary, ICSID Case No. ARB/04/15, Award, paras. 103-07 (Sept. 13, 2006); ADC Affiliate Ltd. v. Republic of Hungary, ICSID Case No. ARB/03/ 16, Award, paras. 533-39 (Oct. 2, 2006); Champion Trading Co. v. Arab Republic of Egypt, ICSID Case No. ARB/02/9, Award, paras. 176-78 (Oct. 27, 2006). The principles relating to the allocation of costs and fees in treaty cases are generally applicable for both UNCITRAL and ICSID arbitrations.

17 Paulsson & Petrochilos, supra note 2, at 5-10; see also id. at 58 n.110, 60 n.118, 71 n.146, 100 n.200, 103 n.206,142 n.253 (all citing the book under review). In February 2007, the working group that is revising the UNCITRAL Rules opted against a rule increasing confidentiality, partly in light of the trend toward greater transparency in proceedings involving sovereign states. The working group also delayed deciding whether the rules should treat investor-state disputes differently from ordinary commercial disputes. See documents relating to the 46th session of UNCITRAL’s Working Group II (February 5-9, 2007), at <http://www.uncitral.org/uncitrayen/commission/workmg_groups/2Arbitration.html=.