Investor-State Arbitration: Mauritius hosts signing of UN Convention on Transparency

The signing ceremony for the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration (Mauritius Convention on Transparency) was held last evening at Intercontinental Hotel, Balaclava.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Etienne Sinatambou, signed the Convention for Mauritius.  Other signatory parties were: Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States.

Adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2014, the Convention is an instrument by which Parties to investment treaties express their consent to apply the Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) to their existing investment promotion and protection agreements concluded before 1st April 2014.

The Mauritius Convention on Transparency is now open for signature at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.  It will enter into force six months after the deposit of the third instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

Addressing the media during a press conference after the signature ceremony in Balaclava, Minister Sinatambou observed that the Convention is the first multilateral treaty prepared under the auspices of the UN to be signed in Mauritius.

During these last years, stated the Minister, Mauritius has been at the forefront in the field of international arbitration and the country is affirming itself more and more as an important location for dispute settlements in the African region or in the context of business relations between Africa and Asia.

For Mr Sinatambou, Mauritius owes its position among the most performing economies in Africa and the development achieved on the economic level due to the values which the country defends such as rule of law, legal security, and international cooperation.  The Mauritius Convention on Transparency, which pertains to arbitration in the investment domains, transparency and human rights, including the right to information, reflects all these values, he pointed out.

The Minister also expressed conviction that the Mauritius Convention will contribute substantially to increasing the legitimacy of the system of dispute settlements at international level.