The delegation of the ICAC at the UCCI composed of Mykola SELIVON, President of the ICAC at the UCCI, Yuliya CHERNYKH, arbitrator of the ICAC at the UCCI, and Olena VASYLENKO, vice secretary for international affairs of the ICAC at the UCCI, participated by invitation of the Secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) as observer at the 48th Commission session which was held from 29 June to 8 July 2015 in Vienna International Centre (Vienna, Austria).
For almost half a century of its operation, UNCITRAL has been recognized as the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. UNCITRAL’s business is the modernization and development of modern, fair and harmonized rules on international business.
These include:
- Conventions, model laws and rules which are acceptable worldwide
- Legal and legislative guides and recommendations of great practical value
- Updated information on case law and enactments of uniform commercial law
- Technical assistance in law reform projects
- Regional and national seminars on uniform commercial law
The Commission carries out its work at annual sessions, which are held in alternate years at United Nations Headquarters in New York and at the Vienna International Centre in Vienna.
In addition to member States, all States that are not members of the Commission, as well as interested international and non-governmental organizations, are invited to attend sessions of the Commission and of its working groups as observers and present their views on matters where the organization concerned has expertise or international experience so as to facilitate the deliberations at the session.
During the visit of the Ukrainian delegation the work of session was dedicated, in particular, to such issues:
- consideration of issues of arbitration and conciliation;
- consideration of issues in the area of security interests;
- online dispute resolution;
- electronic commerce;
- insolvency law;
- principles of choice of law in international commercial contracts;
- technical assistance to law reform, promotion of ways and means of ensuring a uniform interpretation and application of UNCITRAL legal texts;
- role of UNCITRAL in promoting the rule of law at the national and international levels.
A central issue of the session was consideration of the draft revised UNCITRAL Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings which are designed to assist arbitration practitioners and may be used whether or not the arbitration is administered by an arbitral institution.
In the course of the Commission session work Mykola SELIVON, President of ICAC at the UCCI, continually contributed to the discussions, presenting comments and examples of practices of the ICAC at the UCCI.
Series of meetings important for promotion of the arbitral institutions at the Ukrainian CCI and development of cooperation in the field of international commercial arbitration were conducted by the delegation of the ICAC at the UCCI. In particular, the ICAC held meetings with the management of UNCITRAL, the representatives of the Vienna legal community and the heads of arbitral institutions.
Of particular importance was the meeting of Ukrainian delegation with the Secretary of UNCITRAL Renaud SORIEUL and principal legal officer of International Trade Law Division of the Secretariat of the Commission Corinne MONTINERI. The meeting participants discussed the issues of cooperation between UNCITRAL and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Ukrainian arbitral institutions as well as the Commission’s assistance to business development and commercial arbitration in Ukraine.
During the meeting of Mykola SELIVON, President of the ICAC at the UCCI, with Anton BAIER, President of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (VIAC), and Manfred HEIDER, Secretary General of VIAC, considering the importance of active cooperation between the arbitral institutions as an essential prerequisite for their efficiency, it was decided to prepare Agreement of cooperation between the ICAC at the UCCI and the Vienna International Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. The signing of the Agreement was proposed solemnly carry in Kyiv during the annual International Arbitration Readings in November 2015.
The President of the ICAC also carried on conversations with Vice-Chairman of the 48th session of UNCITRAL Michael SCHNEIDER (Switzerland), who was brilliantly moderating during the discussion of the draft revised Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings, with partner of «Zeiler.partners» law firm Gerold ZEILER, with Secretary General of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Annette MAGNUSSON and with representative of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) Tony ZHANG.
In the course of the meetings held by the Ukrainian delegation all the participants were invited to take part in the III International Arbitration Readings in memory of Academician Igor Pobirchenko, which will be held on 13 November 2015 in Kyiv.
