Methods of work
The Commission
The Commission carries out its work at annual sessions, which are held in alternate years at United Nations Headquarters in New York and at the Vienna International Centre at Vienna. Each working group of the Commission typically holds one or two sessions a year, depending on the subject-matter to be covered; these sessions also alternate between New York and Vienna.
In addition to Member States, all States that are not members of the Commission, as well as interested international organizations, are invited to attend sessions of the Commission and of its working groups as observers. Observers are permitted to participate in discussions at sessions of the Commission and its working groups to the same extent as members.
Working Groups
The Commission has established six working groups to perform the substantive preparatory work on topics within the Commission's programme of work. Each of the working groups is composed of all Member States of the Commission.
The six working groups and their current topics are as follows:
- Working Group I - Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
- Working Group II - Arbitration and Conciliation / Dispute Settlement
- Working Group III - Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform
- Working Group IV - Electronic Commerce
- Working Group V - Insolvency Law
- Working Group VI - Judicial Sale of Ships