United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

Subject – IR

Context – Govt plans to enact cross-border insolvency framework in Winter Session. The new framework is likely to be largely patterned on the UNCITRAL model law on cross-border insolvency.

Concept –

• It is a subsidiary body of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) responsible for helping to facilitate international trade and investment.
• It is the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law.
• UNCITRAL carries out its work at annual sessions held alternately in New York City and Vienna, where it is headquartered.
• Established by the UNGA in 1966.
• The Tribunal constituted in accordance with the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules 1976 is seated at the Hague, Netherlands, and proceedings are administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
• Since its inception, India is only one of eight countries that has been a member of UNCITRAL.
• The UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (1997) (MLCBI) is designed to assist States in developing a modern, harmonized and fair insolvency framework to more effectively address instances of cross-border proceedings concerning debtors experiencing severe financial distress or insolvency.
  • It provides legal framework to deal with cross-border insolvency issues while ensuring the least intrusion into the country’s domestic insolvency law.