UNCITRAL-World Bank Group Judicial Capacity-Building Initiative on International Best Practices in the Area of Insolvency Law

The joint UNCITRAL-World Bank Group Judicial Capacity-Building Initiative on International Best Practices in the Area of Insolvency Law is intended to serve as a platform for judges, in particular from developing countries, to exchange their views and experiences with handling domestic insolvency cases and to learn in that context about the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law and the World Bank Principles for Effective Insolvency and Creditor/Debtor Regimes. It is organized, in particular, in response to the requests made by UNCITRAL to its secretariat to intensify its capacity-building activities in support of the judiciary (see A/74/17, para. 251, and A/76/17, para. 306).

Under the initiative, a series of capacity-building sessions will be held, each on a different topic, to allow an exchange of views and experiences with handling domestic insolvency law cases and learning about international best practices in the area of insolvency law.

 

Second session - Commencement standards

The second session took place on 1 and 2 November 2023 (online) and focused on the commencement standards.

It showcased a comparative overview of domestic approaches to commencement standards, safeguards against abuse or improper use of insolvency proceedings and measures to ensure timely, efficient and cost-effective processing of applications for commencement. The session featured a case study and an exchange of views as regards the solutions recommended in the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law (in particular in parts two and five) and the World Bank Principles for Effective Insolvency and Creditor/Debtor Regimes (in particular in Principles C4, C19 and D6.3).

The final programme, the case study and the reference materials have been made available at the links below.

Final programme (PDF)

Case study (PDF)

Reference materials (PDF)

Opening statements

  • Opening remarks by Mr. José Angelo Estrella-Faria, the Principal Legal Officer, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs/International Trade Law Division, the UNCITRAL secretariat
  • Opening remarks by Mr. Harish Natarajan, Practice Manager, Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation Global Practice, World Bank Group

Presentations

 

First session - Avoidance proceedings

The first in a series of capacity-building sessions focused on avoidance proceedings. The session featured a comparative overview of approaches to avoidance proceedings, a case study and an exchange of views as regards the solutions recommended in the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law (recommendations 87-99) and the World Bank Principles for Effective Insolvency and Creditor/Debtor Regimes (Principle C11).

The first session on avoidance proceedings took place in Vienna (virtual) on 27th and 28th October 2021. More than 150 judges participated.

The materials of the first session can be found at the links below. 

Programme for Wednesday, 27 October 2021 (CET), 12 pm to 3 pm (CET)
(suggested for judges from Africa and Asia and the Pacific) and Thursday, 28 October 2021, 3 to 6 pm (CET) (suggested for judges from other regions)

Reference materials (PDF)

Questions & Answers (PDF)

Presentations