Rwanda accedes to UN convention on commercial arbitration

The small African Great Lakes nation of Rwanda has become the latest country to accede to a 50-year-old United Nations convention on commercial arbitration, the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) announced today.

Rwanda becomes the 143rd State Party to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, also known as the New York Convention, as a result of the accession. The treaty will enter into force for Rwanda on 29 January next year.

The convention requires courts of the States Parties to enforce arbitration agreements and to recognize and enforce arbitral awards made in other States.

Earlier this year, in a statement marking its 50th anniversary, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the pact as “a cornerstone of the rule of law in international trade relations.”

He said the convention had provided a basis for enforceable rights and commitments in international commercial agreements, and had given companies the confidence to invest in places which they might otherwise have avoided.