{"id":17048,"date":"2026-04-21T18:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/?p=17048"},"modified":"2026-04-21T18:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:47:10","slug":"uncitral-working-group-iii-advances-isds-reform-but-progress-remains-slow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/2026\/04\/21\/uncitral-working-group-iii-advances-isds-reform-but-progress-remains-slow\/","title":{"rendered":"UNCITRAL Working Group III Advances ISDS Reform but Progress Remains Slow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In early 2026, <a href=\"https:\/\/uncitral.un.org\/en\/working_groups\/3\/investor-state\"><span class='tooltipsall tooltipsincontent classtoolTips3'>UNCITRAL<\/span> Working Group III<\/a> held its 53rd and 54th sessions. The 53rd session addressed procedural and cross-cutting issues\u2014including cost allocation, third-party funding (TPF) disclosure, and counterclaims\u2014with mixed results. A broad scope for counterclaims was agreed, and a compromise on TPF disclosure was reached, though more ambitious regulation of TPF was not taken up. Progress on cost allocation was slow, and discussions on the calculation of damages were deferred. The Working Group also confirmed that the procedural and cross-cutting provisions will form a Protocol to the UNCITRAL <span class='tooltipsall tooltipsincontent classtoolTips43'>ISDS<\/span> Reform Package. The 54th session in Vienna focused on draft statutes for a permanent tribunal and a permanent appellate body. In particular, the discussions turned to whether and how to include state-to-state dispute settlement (SSDS), what should be the scope of the tribunals\u2018 jurisdiction and how to operationalise jurisdiction\u2019s exclusivity. Overall, the negotiations reflect growing frustration with their pace and the risk of a low\u2011ambition outcome that fails to address core criticisms of the ISDS system. Without meaningful progress, ad hoc arbitration is likely to remain the default, preserving many of the structural concerns the reform process was intended to resolve.<\/p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips3','United Nations Commission on International Trade Law'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips43','investor\u2013state dispute settlement'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips58','soluci\u00f3n de controversias inversionista-Estado'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips63','Bilateral investment treaty'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips65','East African community'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips67','Energy Charter Treaty'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips106','asociaci\u00f3n p\u00fablica-privada'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips116','European Commission'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips118','Union europ\u00e9enne'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips119','Uni\u00f3n Europea'); <\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In early 2026, <span class='tooltipsall tooltipsincontent classtoolTips3'>UNCITRAL<\/span> Working Group III held its 53rd and 54th sessions.<script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips3','United Nations Commission on International Trade Law'); <\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":17202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[397],"tags":[1900],"class_list":["post-17048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-current-issue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17049,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17048\/revisions\/17049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}