Mauritius ratifies the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration

VIENNA, Austria, June 8, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- On 5 June, Mauritius ratified the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration (the "Mauritius Convention on Transparency"). It is the first State party to the Convention. The Convention will enter into force six months after the date of the third instrument of ratification or accession.

During the signing ceremony held at Port Louis, Mauritius, on 17 March 2015, eight States (Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Mauritius, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States) signed the Mauritius Convention on Transparency. The Convention has also been signed by Italy, Switzerland, and Syria. The Convention is open for signature, ratification, and accession by States and regional economic integration organizations. For up-to-date information about the parties to the Convention as well as its signatories, see the UNCITRAL website.

The Mauritius Convention on Transparency aims at providing States and regional economic integration organizations that so wish with an efficient mechanism for making the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based investor-State Arbitration (the “Rules on Transparency”) applicable to investment treaties concluded before the Rules entered into force on 1 April 2014. The Convention thus supplements pre-existing investment treaties with respect to transparency-related obligations. By becoming a party to the Convention, a State or regional economic integration organization is expressing its consent to apply the Rules on Transparency to investor-State arbitration initiated pursuant to pre-existing investment treaties.

The Rules on Transparency provide a set of procedural rules that ensure transparency and public accessibility to treaty-based investor-State arbitration, the proceedings of which have traditionally been conducted behind closed doors. Together with the Rules on Transparency, the Mauritius Convention on Transparency takes into account both the public interest in such arbitrations and the interest of the parties to resolve disputes in a fair and efficient manner. It is expected that the Convention will significantly contribute to enhancing transparency in investor-State dispute resolutions.