Sue Collins attended this meeting of the United Nations Commission for the Development of International Trade (Uncitral), in her capacity as representative of the UIHJ.
The Commission, at its fifty-first session in 2018, agreed that Working Group II should be mandated to take up issues relating to expedited arbitration. The Commission, at its fifty-fourth session in 2021, adopted the Uncitral Expedited Arbitration Rules (the “Expedited Rules”) and the new article Uncitral Arbitration Rules (the “UARs”). The Expedited Rules came into effect on 19 September 2021. The Commission requested the Working Group to discuss the topic of early dismissal and present the results of its discussions to the fifty-fifth session of the Commission in 2022. It was generally felt that the topic of early dismissal and preliminary determination was a significant issue in international arbitration and that it should be addressed. The remaining time during the 5 days meeting was used to discuss words and punctuation used in the documents.
The Working Group was informed that a colloquium was scheduled to take place in New York from 28 March to 1 April 2022 to discuss future work in the area of dispute settlement. The colloquium would identify the scope and nature of possible legislative work on dispute resolution in the digital economy and discuss the desirability and feasibility of work on adjudication. At the close of the session, views were exchanged on the detailed topics to be addressed at the colloquium as well as its organization.