Expedited Arbitration Rules for Investment Disputes: ICSID Amendment Process and UNCITRAL Working Group II

Abstract

In 1993, Lord Mustill referred to international arbitration as being ‘by definition, fast-track’ and he added, ‘[t]hat was why the parties chose it as their method of resolving disputes’. However, Lord Mustill also noted, ‘[this] has changed in the last forty years [with] the creation of the new, slow-track arbitration which is the kind of arbitration which is the subject of almost everything written and spoken on the subject’.
With arbitration becoming increasingly costly and lengthy, stakeholders have started to address these issues and propose suitable mechanisms for reinstatingarbitration as an efficient mechanism for resolving commercial disputes. Two notable arbitration rules are still to implement expedited arbitration proceeding: the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Arbitration Rules.