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UNCTAD Project to Steer LDCs Through International Disputes

Ramesh Jaura

International Lawyers for Multilateral Trade Cooperation - ILMTC - is the name of a project that is being launched by the UNCTAD to steer the developing countries and LDCs among them through an increasingly rule-oriented global environment.

At the initiative of its legal advisor Erik Chrispeels, the UNCTAD has designed a programme to strengthen the capacity of public and private institutions in the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America to treat dispute settlement in the fields of international trade, investment and intellectual property.

In particular, universities and research institutions will benefit through enhanced institutional capacity to provide instruction in dispute settlement, and to promote research in this area, says Chrispeels.

The programme offers a range of activities including training for the benefit of policy makers, academics, legal practitioners, and businesspersons in developing countries.

It includes the development of a handbook on dispute settlement, the convening of regional and international training workshops, distance learning using modern technologies, the participation of a network of cooperating institutions, the training of trainers, an internship programme and advisory services to LDCs and other developing countries.

The first internship programme is in fact expected to begin next month.

Chrispeels says experienced international lawyers and law firms have already agreed to provide initial legal advice to LDCs free of charge.

Initially, participating law firms will provide 40 hours of free advice to two LDCs. Independent legal practitioners will provide 40 hours of advice to one LDC.

Underlining the importance of the project, Chrispeels points out that ''dispute settlement is a central feature of the multilateral trade, investment and intellectual property system''.

This is reflected in the establishment in recent years of a number of dispute settlement bodies such as those of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Developing countries are increasingly participating in cases brought to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), WIPO and WTO.

The governments of developing countries have participated in 40 percent of the international trade cases submitted to the WTO. Seventy out of 74 cases before ICSID have involved parties in developing countries that have had to pay horrendous fees to lawyers representing them.

Also, private sector firms in developing countries have participated in several hundred cases involving Internet domain name disputes at WIPO.

Chrispeels sees in the establishment of regional centres for international commercial arbitration in Africa, Asia and Latin America ''further indication of the growing interest among developing countries in dispute settlement''.