Attach Every Proposition to the Instrument and Version Applied

Two decisions can cite an instrument with the same short name while applying different text, reservations, enactments, rule editions, or transition provisions. A comparison that ignores version and applicability can create a false conflict or false agreement.

An instrument record should identify the text used by the deciding body and the reason it applied.

Record the instrument as the decision presents it

Capture the full title, adoption or enactment date, relevant article or section, and any version stated in the decision. Quote the short relevant text only when the research use requires it and the source permits it. Add a pin cite to the primary decision and a link to the official instrument text.

Do not replace the decision’s version with the newest consolidated version. Store the newer text as a separate comparison record.

Verify treaty status and reservations

For a treaty, record signature, ratification or accession, entry into force, territorial application, declarations, and reservations that can matter to the question. Use an authoritative treaty source and state the date of the status check.

UNCITRAL maintains a status table for the New York Convention and directs readers to the United Nations Treaty Collection for authoritative depositary information and historical status. A research note should not infer applicability from a current list without checking the relevant states, date, and any applicable reservation.

Distinguish model text from enacted law

A model law supports harmonization, but a jurisdiction’s enacted text and amendments govern within that legal system. Record the official national provision reviewed. Note material differences from the model text rather than treating the model as the local statute.

If the case uses an unofficial English translation, label it. Preserve the original-language citation and source where available.

Track rules and agreement terms

Institutional and ad hoc rules change. Record the edition, effective date, transition rule, and how the parties adopted the rules. A later website page can show the current edition and omit the earlier text.

The arbitration agreement can modify or supplement procedural terms. State whether its full text is public, quoted in part, or described only by the deciding body. Do not reconstruct missing terms from a later summary.

Write the applicability chain

Use a short sequence: issue, instrument, provision, version, applicability fact, deciding body’s use, and research limit. If any link is uncertain, mark it.

The record supports comparison only after each decision has its own applicability chain. Similar article numbers do not establish that the decisions interpreted identical legal text in identical procedural settings.