Katerina Yiannibas, an attorney-at-law and mediator in New York, is currently working in the Basque Country as a legal consultant in international law and ADR (alternative dispute resolution).
With an ever-increasing global economy and therein the wider-reaching effects of crises, the commercial actions of States has come under heightened scrutiny. Within this context, arbitration is fast becoming the international dispute resolution mechanism of choice not only for commercial disputes between private actors, but also for disputes between investors and States. One of the oft-cited advantages of international commercial arbitration is the confidentiality of arbitral awards. As of date, there exists no international legal standard on transparency in international arbitration. In the case of investor-State arbitration, confidentiality challenges not only citizens’ right to information but it also challenges general notions of good governance. Transparency is an issue which is garnering more and more attention in international fora.
This fall, Globernance will be taking part of the discussion on transparency in international arbitration and will begin work to shed more light on this issue. In October 2011, UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) Working Group II will meet in Vienna to develop a legal standard for transparency in investor-State treaty based arbitration. Katerina Yiannibas will attend this session on behalf of Globernance.
