Transparency Registry
(a repository for the publication of information and documents in treaty-based investor-State arbitration)
How to submit documents
In July 2013, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted the Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration ("Transparency Rules"). The publication of and access to information and documents will be organized through a repository in accordance with article 8 of the Transparency Rules. Pursuant to the deliberations of UNCITRAL and General Assembly Resolution 68/106 of 16 December 2013, the UNCITRAL Secretariat undertakes the functions of registry ('the Registry').
The Guidelines below are intended to provide information on the procedure for submission of information and documents to the Registry in compliance with the Transparency Rules.
Information and documents can also be submitted under a different transparency standard. In that case, please contact the Registry.
Any questions as to these procedures should be addressed to:
UNCITRAL Secretariat
(Transparency Registry)
Vienna International Centre
P.O. Box 500
A-1400 Vienna, Austria
E-mail:
Website: http://www.uncitral.org/transparency-registry
A. Information by disputing parties
(1) Under article 2 of the Transparency Rules, both the claimant and the respondent shall promptly communicate a copy of the notice of arbitration to the Registry, or the claimant shall send the notice and a record of its transmission to the respondent. The notice of arbitration shall be accompanied with information on the name of the disputing parties, the economic sector of the dispute [1] and the treaty under which the claim arises, as specified in the template for disputing parties.
(2) If either disputing party challenges the application of the Transparency Rules, that party shall advise the Registry immediately.
(3) Once the arbitral tribunal is constituted, it shall be exclusively responsible for the submission of documents to the Registry. Submissions by others will not be accepted.
B. Validation of authenticity
(1) Upon constitution of the arbitral tribunal, the presiding arbitrator shall communicate all contact details to the Registry as specified by the template for arbitral tribunals.
(2) The arbitral tribunal shall designate a person from whom the Registry will receive information, and to whom the Registry can revert for questions. If no other person is to that effect designated, the presiding arbitrator is considered to be the contact person.
C. Objection to the application of the Transparency Rules
If the application of the Transparency Rules is objected to the disputing parties, the arbitral tribunal shall promptly decide on their application and communicate the decision to the Registry.
D. Submission of documents
(1) The arbitral tribunal shall submit the documents by email, through upload to http:// or by courier, on USB stick, CD-ROM or DVD. Such media will not be returned to the sender.
(2) The arbitral tribunal shall also submit the notice of arbitration to the Registry, if the disputing parties have failed to do so.
(3) The arbitral tribunal shall communicate to the extent possible with the Registry in one of the working languages of the UN Secretariat, i.e. English or French.
E. Format of the documents
(1) The documents shall be sent electronically, in searchable pdf format, 300 dpi. The document size shall not exceed 5 MB. If the document is larger, it should be divided into smaller documents of 5 MB or less each.
(2) As all submitted documents may be published, confidential or protected information shall be edited by the arbitral tribunal in accordance with the Transparency Rules. Documents shall be redacted by striking out the confidential or protected information. The blackened (or redacted) sections shall be neither searchable nor recoverable.
(3) No hard copy shall be sent to the Registry.
(4) The Registry will publish information in the form and language in which it receives it.
F. Closure of publication period
Once the arbitral tribunal has discharged its function and its mandate is terminated, the repository will not publish any additional document on that case.
G. Costs
(1)The service of the Registry is in principle at no cost for parties, arbitral tribunals and the public.
(2) Exceptions concern situations when the minimal technical requirements are not complied with (e.g. if non-electronic information is submitted) and with respect to costs specified in article 3 (5) of the Transparency Rules.
(3) Any costs for submission of documents shall be borne by the submitting party or the submitting tribunal.
Possible economic sectors:
· Agriculture, forestry and fishing
· Mining and quarrying
· Manufacturing
· Energy supply
· Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities
· Construction
· Wholesale and retail trade
· Transportation and storage
· Accommodation and food service activities
· Information and communication
· Financial and insurance activities
· Real estate activities
· Professional, scientific and technical activities
· Administrative and support service activities
· Public Administration
· Education
· Human health and social work activities
· Arts, entertainment and recreation
· Other service activities
· Other (please specify)