ITA Roundtable At UNCITRAL Working Group III: Draft Provision 17 And The Denial Of Benefits Clause

On 23 September 2024, the third ITA Roundtable at an UNCITRAL Working Group III ("UNCITRAL WG III") session took place at the offices of KNOETZL. Anna Joubin-Bret, Secretary of UNCITRAL, and Jurgita Petkute, Partner at KNOETZL, gave introductory remarks. Dr. Crina Baltag from Stockholm University moderated the discussion of the panel consisting of Lorena Fatás (State Attorney, Deputy-Head International Arbitration Department, State's Attorney Office, Kingdom of Spain), Florian Haugeneder (Partner, KNOETZL), Professor Dr. August Reinisch (University of Vienna), and Tom Sikora (Senior Counsel, Exxon Mobil Corporation).

The UNCITRAL WG III continues the consultations on Draft Provisions concerning procedural reform, which have been updated in UNCITRAL working paper A/CN.9/WG.III/WP.244. The focus of this ITA roundtable discussion was on Draft Provision 17, which addresses the "denial of benefits" clause, which allows States to deny the protection offered to investors or