United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)


25th anniversary of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency - Panel discussion on sharing experience across regions (15 July 2022)

On the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, the UNCITRAL secretariat organized a panel discussion among stakeholders active in insolvency law reform to inform the Commission about lessons learned from recent inter-regional multilingual experience- featuring assessment exercises and knowledge-sharing in the area of insolvency law and the role that UNCITRAL legislative, guidance and reference materials and events played in that context.

Speaker Statements (only available in English) are available at: https://uncitral.un.org/en/mlcbi25 where you will find the Statement of Nicoleta Mirela Nastasie (PhD, Retired judge - Bucharest Tribunal, Romania) who kindly shared this information with INSOL Europe members.



UNCITRAL Model law on cross-border insolvency and legislative guide on insolvency law


The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency in 1997.

The Model Law does not attempt to harmonise the substantive insolvency laws of participating jurisdictions, but provides a procedural framework to facilitate cooperation between courts and office holders in differing states. Countries are free to adopt and adapt the Model Law by modifying and excluding its provisions to accommodate local laws.

The central focus of the Model Law is to recognise and cooperate in cross-border insolvency. Unlike the EU Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings, the Model Law does not contain rules determining jurisdiction or choice of law.

From 2004 to 2013 UNCITRAL has developed a Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law as a reference point for lawmakers designing a strong insolvency, debtor-creditor regime, which includes out-of-court restructuring.

UNCITRAL has recently issued a Model Law on Recognition and Enforcement of Insolvency-Related Judgments with Guide to Enactment (2018), a Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency with Guide to Enactment (2019) and a Model Law on MSME insolvency (2021).

Further information