As UNCITRAL Working Group III continues its multi-year mandate to reform the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system, the focus has often remained on structural overhauls like a multilateral investment court or appellate mechanisms. However, a more immediate crisis persists: the prohibitive cost of entry.

While the system was designed to protect foreign investment, the staggering legal and administrative fees—often reaching millions of dollars—have effectively sidelined medium-sized investors. For these entities, the “right” to arbitration is often a right in name only, as the financial risk of pursuing a claim outweighs the potential recovery.

We are honored to welcome Professor Noam Zamir to lead this discussion. An international arbitrator, Associate Professor and former Visiting Professor at Stanford Law School , Professor Zamir brings extensive expertise as an independent arbitrator and counsel who has represented both states and investors in complex international disputes. His deep scholarship on the “allocation of costs” and “affordable arbitral appeal mechanisms” provides a vital lens through which to examine the intersection of procedural reform and economic reality.

Join us on Tuesday 31 April at 12:45 in Room 27 for an in-depth discussion on the intersection of procedural reform and economic reality.