第80回国連総会第6委員会「国際連合国際商取引法委員会（UNCITRAL）報告」における大原専門調査員ステートメント

Madam Chair,
 
At the outset, I wish to express my gratitude to the Chair of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) for presenting the Commission’s report on its fifty-eighth session. Let me also express my sincere appreciation to the UNCITRAL Secretariat for providing support to enable the Commission and its working groups to make progress.
 
I would like to comment briefly on the most recent developments regarding UNCITRAL’s work, discussed during the Commission’s fifty-eighth session.
 
Madam Chair,

Japan would like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to the project on the stocktaking of developments in dispute resolution in the digital economy. As you will recall, at its fifty-fourth session, the Commission approved the Secretariat’s mandate to monitor the changing landscape of dispute resolution in the digital economy by compiling, analyzing and sharing relevant information. The stocktaking project was subsequently approved, as part of the annual resolution on the UNCITRAL report, by the General Assembly in December 2021.
 
The work aimed at developing legal frameworks to facilitate broader reliance on electronic arbitral awards, currently underway in Working Group II, is one of the key deliverables of the stocktaking project. The stocktaking project continues to play an important role in informing the Commission on possible future work for the Working Group. Japan recognizes, particularly, the importance of work on the topic of the use of artificial intelligence in dispute resolution and will continue to support the project. It looks forward to actively engaging in discussions, should the Commission decide to mandate a Working Group to work on that topic in the future.
 
Japan is convinced that these initiatives will bring meaningful outcomes and looks forward to further collaboration with the UNCITRAL Secretariat, interested States and relevant stakeholders in the implementation of the project and the discussion in Working Group II.

Madam Chair,
 
As for the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of UNCITRAL, Japan is pleased to host the first commemorative event in July 2026, immediately following the next Commission session. Japan hopes this event will set the stage for celebrations that will follow.
 
While the specifics will need to be fleshed out further, it is envisaged that the event will serve as an opportunity to highlight the achievements of UNCITRAL, including the project on the stocktaking of developments in dispute resolution in the digital economy, and provide an opportunity for meaningful discussion on UNCITRAL’s future work. We are planning to invite practitioners, researchers, and government officials involved in the field of international trade in Japan and from different parts of the world.
 
We intend to host this event as part of Japan International Arbitration Week. We are convinced that collaboration with International Arbitration Week could make this commemorative event more meaningful and fruitful.
 
Japan aims to work closely with the Secretariat, steadily advancing preparations so as to ensure the success of the event in July 2026.

In closing, I would like to express Japan’s sincere appreciation for the Commission’s significant role in promoting the progressive harmonization and unification of international trade law. Japan, as a member of the Commission since its inception, reiterates its full commitment to further strengthening its efforts to make tangible contributions to UNCITRAL’s work.
 
I thank you, Madam Chair.