ABOUT US
Chair's Welcome
The term “global village” was coined in 1964 to describe the phenomenon of the world’s culture shrinking and expanding at the same time because of advances in technology which enabled instantaneous sharing of culture. So too it is apt to describe increasing global economic interdependence.
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The need for a legal framework to facilitate international trade and investment in an increasingly economically interdependent world has been recognised for some time. UNCITRAL plays an important role in the development of that legal framework.
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Established in 2013, the UNCITRAL National Coordination Committee for Australia (UNCCA) was the first committee of its type to be established globally. Its objective is to provide the primary platform for Australia’s engagement with UNCITRAL and its key areas of work related to international trade law.
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Under the stewardship of its founder and initial chair, Tim Castle SC, and the chairmanship of the Hon Justice Neil McKerracher, UNCCA has flourished bringing together members of the judiciary, legal practitioners, academics and other stakeholders who have a common interest or practice in the key UNCITRAL areas. Through the work of our executive and our members, UNCCA has increased awareness of the important work of UNCITRAL, Australia’s role in it and developments that impact or might impact the Australian law.
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UNCCA’s activities include: promoting representation by Australians at the UNCITRAL working groups, either as part of an official delegation or as observers on behalf of Law Asia; participating at UNCITRAL conferences and symposia in Asia and the pacific; conducting events including the UNCCA annual May seminar; and delivering annual UN day lectures.
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We invite you to explore our website which provides a wealth of information about the work of UNCITRAL, each of its six working groups and Australia’s participation in them as well as the activities of UNCCA.
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If you wish to become more involved in this exciting and expanding area as a member, we warmly invite you to join UNCCA via the link on the website or by contacting us.
We look forward to welcoming you to UNCCA.
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Justice Brigitte Markovic
Chair
The Hon Justice Brigitte Sandra Markovic
Judge (Federal Court of Australia), UNCCA Chair
How we work
UNCCA operates as a company incorporated by guarantee, with our own Constitution. The voting members of UNCCA are called UNCCA Fellows, in recognition of their contribution to the work of UNCITRAL and UNCCA. The UNCCCA Fellows elect a board of directors of 12, which provides a diverse representation of academics and practitioners from within Australia.
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As an organisation, we are guided by our Strategic Plan.​
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Each month the directors meet by telephone in Committee session to progress the day-to-day work of UNCCA. The agenda for these meetings reflects the broad scope of UNCITRAL’s activities, including working group participation, adoption of texts, and participation in events organized by UNCITRAL’s Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific.
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Our key event is our annual May Seminar. This is a one-day seminar typically held in May, with the aim to provide a forum for mutual exchange about items of current interest in relation to UNCITRAL.
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In addition, UNCCA has established this website to function as our primary and on-going means of communicating information about the work of UNCITRAL and UNCCA to interested parties in Australia. In addition we also seek to organize seminars and other events in the capital cities that are more accessible to a broader group of our friends and supporters.
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We are very keen to encourage interested lawyers, academics and students to joint UNCCA as associate members to learn more about our work and events, and hopefully progress to the rank of UNCCA Fellow by attending a Working Group meeting, or other equivalent events organized by the RCAP.
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Associate members are more than welcome to participate in the work of one of our Expert Advisory Committees (EACs). These Committees are primarily composed of lawyers and academics with specialist expertise or interest in one of the areas of UNCITRAL’s work. The principal role of the EACs is to prepare for upcoming Working Group meetings, but they have a wider role to play in relation to any other matter of relevance to their specialist area.
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Click here to find out more about our distinguished EAC Chairs.