We are very pleased to announce that the new service created by the CARO Centre, the “Conflict Management Committee” or “CMC”, has been listed since the end of January 2024 on the website of Working Group III of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, in the context of its work on the prevention of investment disputes.

UNCITRAL Working Group No. III was set up at the 50th session of the UN Commission in 2017, with the task of considering the need for, and where appropriate, implementing reform of the dispute resolution system in the field of investment protection.

The reference to the CARO Centre's “CMC” service in the context of UNCITRAL's work follows a request made by the delegation of the Government of Jamaica, represented by Omar Chedda, Senior Director in the Investment Department and the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Trade, Economic Growth and Job Creation, on the occasion of the 47th session held in Vienna from January 22 to 26, 2024.

The delegation of Jamaica therefore requested that the CMC be mentioned in the Draft Guidelines on the Prevention and Mitigation of Disputes Relating to International Investments, as a tool for preventing disputes, while ensuring respect for the rights of communities affected by the investment, as well as environmental protection.

The “Conflict Management Committee” or “CMC” is a new department of the CARO Centre created in October 2023, in response to the social and environmental challenges facing all players in the global economy today.

The rules of procedure of the Conflict Management Committee represent a decisive innovation in the monitoring of disputes concerning infrastructure projects. For the first time, the mission of the members of the Dispute Settlement Committee is no longer limited to commercial or technical project disputes. Their mission now also extends to social and environmental responsibility disputes, which they are responsible for preventing by establishing a dialogue with affected communities from the outset of the project, and by monitoring the project's environmental impact.

These rules of procedure have been drawn up by a team of experts under the direction of the Centre CARO, comprising:

• Me Elise Groulx Diggs, international criminal lawyer, mediator and expert in “Business and Human Rights”, “eminent” practitioner according to the Chambers & Partners rankings.
  http://www.elisegroulx.com/fr/index.html
• Me Eve Tessera, lawyer and international expert in “Business and Human Rights”:
  http://www.biforbusinessintegrity.com/pdf/equipe/EveTessera-FR.pdf
• Mark Appel, senior arbitrator and mediator, former Senior Vice-President of the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (“ICDR”) for Europe, Africa and the Middle East
  https://www.arbdb.com/mark-appel
• Wolf von Kumberg, senior international arbitrator and mediator specializing in commercial and construction law, practising in London, Washington and Abu-Dhabi:
  https://arbitra.co.uk/arbitrators-mediators/profile/wolf-von-kumberg

This innovation means that the rights of vulnerable communities, including project site workers and indigenous communities, are systematically considered, while environmental issues are strictly monitored.

The implementation of this service is designed to reveal the full development potential of infrastructure projects.

For more information: https://www.carohadac.org/services/conflict-management-committee.html

To consult Jamaica's submission to the Secretariat of UNCITRAL Working Group III: https://uncitral.un.org/sites/uncitral.un.org/files/media-documents/EN/submission_by_jamaica.pdf

For further information, please contact: secretariat@carohadac.org

Find out more about the CARO Centre's range of services: https://www.carohadac.org