The UNCITRAL Rules of Arbitration (“UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules”), which may be downloaded below, are a set of procedural rules aimed at the resolution of international disputes. They apply when parties have specifically agreed to and chosen the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules to resolve their dispute.
Created and adopted in 1976 by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules can be used both in administered arbitrations under the auspices of an arbitral institution as well as in ad hoc arbitrations. The UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules are frequently used in investment arbitrations, commercial arbitrations and also in arbitrations between States.
The 1976 version of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules can be downloaded here: 1976 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.
After over three decades of use, the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules were revised to meet the needs of modern business. This version, issued in 2010, may be downloaded here: 2010 UNCITRAL Rules of Arbitration.
The revision consisted mainly in improvements to procedural efficiency, the inclusion of provisions on multi-party arbitrations and the development of rules on interim measures.
In 2013, the UNCITRAL issued a minor revision which incorporated specially drafted rules on transparency for investment arbitrations based on treaties. The 2013 UNCITRAL Rules of Arbitration may be downloaded here: 2013 UNCITRAL Rules of Arbitration. The main feature of this revision concerns the newly added article 1, paragraph 4. This section refers to the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration which applies to all the arbitration disputes commenced based on an investment treaty from or after 1 April 2014.
The UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules are widely used in ad hoc and administered arbitration disputes worldwide. For this purpose, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law has issued a set of guidelines for all interested bodies when implementing UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. Such recommendations were issued for both version of rules.
The version related to the application of 1976 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, which was published in 1982, may be found here: 1982 UNCITRAL Recommendations for the Application of 1976 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.
Recommendations relating to the application of 2010 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, adopted in 2012 (and applicable to the 2013 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules which are essentially unchanged) can be downloaded here:2012 Recommendations for the Application of 2010 UNCITRAL Rules of Arbitration.