Report of the IILCC Study Group on ISDS Reform 

Workshop Report Vienna 19. – 24. January 2020

The start of the Vienna workshop was marked by a kick-off dinner at the restaurant Lugeck and a lively discussion about the legal culture in Germany and Austria. The dinner was joined by a Jan Philipp Meyer who kindly agreed to share his experience as Vienna based lawyer who is admitted to both the Austrian and German bar.

On Monday, the first event was the guided tour of the UN headquarter in Vienna. During the tour, different branches of the UN, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Industrial Development Agency (UNIDO), the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), and the Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA), were visited and their work explained. The highlight of the guided tour was the visit of the United Nations Commission On International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in which a meeting of the Working Group III on the reform of ISDS was held.

In the afternoon, Ulrich Kopetzki of DORDA Rechtsanwälte gave a presentation on the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and offered insight on the functions and the daily work at the ICC Court’s secretariat.

The evening was marked by the first meeting with Prof. em. Christoph Schreuer and Prof. Ursula Kriebaum. During the dinner, the workshop of the Study Group at Zeiler Partners on Tuesday was discussed. Prof. em. Schreuer and Prof. Kriebaum shared their experience in ISDS and ponderings and amusing on the arbitration world were exchanged, which turned out to be a valuable opportunity for the younger participants of the Study Group to gain practical insight into ISDS.

Tuesday began with a presentation on the 2019 Resolution of Equality of Parties before International Investment Tribunals with Prof. Campbell McLachlan, organized by the Institut de Droit International (IDI). The event was hosted by Prof. August Reinisch at the law faculty of Vienna University and was also joined by members of the UNCITRAL Working Group III.

The key event of the journey to Vienna was the workshop of the Study Group at Zeiler Partners. On the basis of the report prepared by the Study Group, jun. Prof. Julian Scheu moderated an academic panel discussion between Prof. em. Schreuer and Prof. Kriebaum defending the current ISDS system on one side and Prof. Reinisch and Research Associate Professor Catharine Titi on the arguing in favour of a reform of ISDS on the other side. Each round of discussion was opened by presentations Study Group members which were based on the conclusions drawn from the report and introduced the audience to the topic. Among the audience were inter alia the Director of the UNCITRAL Secretariat and the Secretary-General of the International Center for Dispute Settlement (ICSID), as well as other delegated of the UNCITRAL Working Group and the EU Commission. The panel discussion was well received by the audience and ended in a lively discussion which continued even to the subsequent get-together.

On Wednesday, the first members of the Study Group departed from Vienna. For those that stayed until the 24^th, the UNCITRAL Law Library offered the opportunity to access valuable research materials for the individual dissertation projects of the Study Group members.