The Mauritius Convention: Canada Opens The Door To Transparency In Investor-State Arbitrations

In a decisive shift towards openness in investor-State arbitration, the Mauritius Convention entered into force in Canada in late 2017. The Convention sets out new default transparency obligations for disputes arising from current and future investment agreements between Canada and investor parties. These duties may have significant repercussions for investor-parties seeking to safeguard their strategic or reputationally-sensitive business information in the event of an arbitration with Canada. As such, it is vital that investor-parties understand how to meet their transparency obligations while also protecting commercially-sensitive information.

Adopted by the United Nations in 2014 and first entered into force in 2017, the Convention has currently only been ratified by four countries: Cameroon, Canada, Mauritius, and Switzerland. While the small number of party States betrays, at least to some extent, a hesitancy among nations to resolve investment disputes in the