UNCITRAL has established six working groups to perform substantive preparatory work on topics within its program of work.

Specifically, ‘mandates’ or legal tasks are assigned by the Commission to each of the six Working Groups. Each Working Group is usually given one major mandate at a time, although some mandates may give rise to several related texts, such as a Model Law and an associated Guide to Enactment.

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The Commission meets once a year in July, alternating between Vienna in New York, for a 2-3 week period. At each meeting it assigns new mandates, and reviews the progress on existing mandates through reports from each of the Working Groups. These Working Groups are composed of representatives from all member States of the Commission.

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Once a text is completed by a Working Group, meaning complete consensus on all of the terms of the text has been reached, it is then considered in detail by the Commission. Finalisation (adoption) by the Commission gives the text its official status. This is not a formality, even though the Commission will have been involved in prior meetings considering the work on the text as it has been progressed. Certain texts, such as conventions, require approval by the UN General Assembly before they are finalised.

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Scroll through to find out more about each of the six Working Groups, which in 2020 are focusing on the following areas of international trade law:

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Working Group I: Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Working Group II: Arbitration and Conciliation/Dispute Settlement

Working Group III: Investor-State Dispute Resolution

Working Group IV: Electronic Commerce

Working Group V: Insolvency Law

Working Group VI: Judicial Sale of Ships