At the 55th Session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) during 27 June – 15 July 2022, Mrs. Suphanvasa Chotikajan Tang, Director-General of the Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs, was elected as a Vice-Chair.

During the meeting, the Thai delegation made interventions on several issues of particular interest to Thailand which were under the consideration of the Commission, namely, the progress of Working Group I concerning Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Working Group III concerning the reform of Investor-State Dispute Settlement as well as the possible topics for future work of Working Group II (Dispute Settlement).

This year also saw the completion of several new instruments with the Commission having approved the draft Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships, the Recommendations to assist mediation centres and other interested bodies with regard to mediation under the UNCITRAL Mediation Rules, and the Model Law on the Use and Cross-border Recognition of Identity Management and Trust Services.

UNCITRAL was established in 1966 as a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly, comprising 70 member countries. It serves as the main mechanism of the United Nations in the development of international trade law. Most recently, Thailand has just been elected for the term 2022 – 2028, Thailand’s 7th term. Thailand has long benefited from a number of UNCITRAL’s legal instruments, especially as models for promulgating national legislation such as the Electronic Transaction Act B.E. 2544 (2001), the Arbitration Act B.E. 2545 (2002) and the Secured Transactions Act B.E. 2558 (2015).