United Nations Compensation Commission Research Articles

An Overview of Evidence before the United Nations Compensation Commission

An Overview of Evidence before the United Nations Compensation Commission

United Nations Compensation Commission Governing Council: Decision Concerning Part Two of the First Instalment of Individual Claims for Damages Above US $100,000 (Category “D” Claims)

United Nations Compensation Commission Governing Council: Decision Concerning Part Two of the First Instalment of Individual Claims for Damages Above US $100,000 (Category “D” Claims)

UN Compensation Commission Panel Sets Precedents on Government Claims

While the public’s attention has recently focused on the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) and its weapons inspection activities, the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC or Commission), another ad hoc UN body created pursuant to Security Council Resolution 687 in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf war, has been making steady progress in resolving the war reparation claims asserted against Iraq. Nonetheless, the UNCC is under increasing pressure to speed up the claims review process and complete its work expeditiously.

Claimant’s Expectations from the United Nations Compensation Commission

Claimant’s Expectations from the United Nations Compensation Commission

How Fair and Efficient is the United Nations Compensation Commission System? – A Model to Emulate?

How Fair and Efficient is the United Nations Compensation Commission System? – <i>A Model to Emulate?</i>

United Nations Compensation Commission Governing Council Decisions 36 to 42 and Associated Panel Reports

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Using Computers to Evaluate Claims at the United Nations Compensation Commission

UNTIL VERY recently it was said that lawyers and the legal profession were falling behind other fields in the use of computer technology. The profession was facing a serious problem in this regard which had not received sufficient attention, and it was only a matter of time before widespread computer illiteracy among lawyers would do harm to their law practices and to the profession.1 These predictions have proven to be wrong. Particularly since 1990, the profession collectively has accelerated the pace of technological change to integrate computers into support functions for numerous aspects of law practice.2 Most lawyers today believe that technology has improved the quality of their work, leading not only to improvements in turnaround time and service, but also to increases in profitability.3 The recent establishment of an on-line alternate dispute resolution pilot program is yet another aspect of the expanding use of computers.4 This article addresses the role of computer technology in a slightly different legal context, at the UN Compensation Commission (the ‘UNCC’), the arbitral claims facility established in 1991 in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. While the use of computers at the UNCC was contemplated from the outset, the widespread reliance on technology has surpassed – necessarily – all initial expectations. The UNCC has worked very hard to develop a system for reviewing more than 1.3 million claims using an impressive technological base for tracking and processing the claims. It uses sophisticated computer databases and uniquely designed programs for registration, tracking, grouping and analyzing the claims, including development of processing criteria; statistical modelling and regression analysis; matching verification evidence to the claims; selection of sample claims; extrapolating sampling results; duplicate and cross-category claims checking; and the calculation and reporting of compensation. The focus here is particularly on …

Liability and Compensation for Environmental Damage in the Context of the Work of the United Nations Compensation Commission

Liability and Compensation for Environmental Damage in the Context of the Work of the United Nations Compensation Commission

United Nations Compensation Commission: Governing Council Decisions 24, 30 and 35 and Panel Reports Associated With Category “A” Claims, Category “B” Claims, and Category “C” Claims (Coordination and Filing of Claims; Timing of Review of Claims; Methodologies for Verifying Mass Claims; and Evidentiary Issues)

United Nations Compensation Commission: Governing Council Decisions 24, 30 and 35 and Panel Reports Associated With Category “A” Claims, Category “B” Claims, and Category “C” Claims (Coordination and Filing of Claims; Timing of Review of Claims; Methodologies for Verifying Mass Claims; and Evidentiary Issues) - Volume 35 Issue 4

The United Nations Compensation Commission. Edited by Richard B. Lillich. Irvington NY: Transnational Publishers, Inc., 1995. Pp. xi, 470. Index. $95.

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

The United Nations Compensation Commission— Developments Since October 1992

Paragraph 16 of Security Council Resolution 687 (April 3, 1991) reaffirmed that “Iraq … is liable under international law for any direct loss, damage, … or injury to foreign Governments, nationals and corporations, as a result of Iraq’s unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait.” This resolution and Security Council Resolution 692 (May 20, 1991) established the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) to administer a system to provide compensation for claims for which Iraq is liable under paragraph 16. The Commission has a Governing Council, composed of the members of the Security Council; panels of commissioners, appointed from time to time to review particular groups of claims; and a secretariat headed by an Executive Secretary. The Commission’s Governing Council first met in Geneva in July 1991 and in the first year of its existence adopted decisional criteria for six categories of claims: Category “A” — claims of individuals for fixed amounts for departure from Iraq or Kuwait; Category “B” — claims of individuals for fixed amounts for death or serious personal injury; Category “C” —claims of individuals for amounts up to $100,000; Category “D” —claims of individuals for amounts above $100,000; Category “E” —claims of corporations; and Category “F” — claims of governments and international organizations.

United Nations Compensation Commission: Recommendations Made by the Panel of Commissioners Concerning Individual Claims for Serious Injury or Death (Category "B" Claims)

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

United Nations Compensation Commission: Report and Recommendation Made by the Panel of Commissioners Concerning The First Instalment of Claims For Departure From Iraq Or Kuwait (Category "A" Claims)

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

United Nations Compensation Commission: Governing Council Decisions 14 to 23 (Committee on Administrative Matters; Allied Coalition Forces' Claims; Interest; Transparency; Priority; Direct Cause; Filing Claims; Coordinating Claims)

United Nations Compensation Commission: Governing Council Decisions 14 to 23 (Committee on Administrative Matters; Allied Coalition Forces' Claims; Interest; Transparency; Priority; Direct Cause; Filing Claims; Coordinating Claims)

The United Nations Compensation Commission A New Eva in Claims Settlements

The United Nations Compensation Commission A New Eva in Claims Settlements

The United Nations Compensation Commission—A New Structure to Enforce State Responsibility

In little over a year, the United Nations has created a new and innovative mechanism to collect, assess and ultimately provide compensation for hundreds of thousands—or even millions—of claims against Iraq for direct losses stemming from the invasion and occupation of Kuwait.The UN Compensation Commission, an element of the United Nations response to Iraq’s August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, began operations in Geneva in July 1991. In seven formal sessions between July 1991 and September 1992, the Commission’s Governing Council adopted by consensus an innovative structure for collecting and verifying millions of potential claims. A small, but experienced, professional staff was recruited; it is headed by a distinguished Peruvian diplomat and includes legal experts with long experience at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague. The staff is at work in the Villa La Pelouse on the UN grounds in Geneva.

United Nations Compensation Commission: Report with Decisions of the Governing Council

United Nations Compensation Commission: Report with Decisions of the Governing Council

Foreign Capital Investment in Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council Considerations, Issues and Concerns for Investors

Particularly in light of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent damage and loss to the economies of both those countries, it is self evident that the successful attraction of venture capital into any country, or investment area, requires, in this day and age, the existence of a range of conditions and satisfaction of criteria designed to provide comfort to potential investors. The extent of investors' losses in those countries since August 1990 is still being quantified but the early estimates are staggering. It is unclear to what extent insurers will meet claims submitted under war risk coverage clauses and then, very much later, seek reimbursement from the proposed United Nations Compensation Commission (the Commission). Any such recourse to the Commission either by insurers or investor principals will have to be submitted through their respective domiciliary governments and cannot be expected to be satisfactory or even minimally effective in providing fair and prompt compensation. Charles Brower, a judge of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal at the Hape since 1984, writing in the Financial Times of 11 April 1991, stated his belief that any attempt to establish a similar tribunal to handle the hundreds ofthousands of individual claims against Iraq would be wholly unworkable. He wrote that nearly eight years after beginning to review claims the Iran-US Tribunal and its panel of nine judges were still at work on the last of the nearly 4,000 claims filed and that it would have been worse had the US and Iran not settled 2,500 small claims as a group. Consequently, it is essential for each investor contemplating participation in any project, joint venture enterprise, or even lending acovity in a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) state to prepare for the kind of nightmare scenario which occurred in Kuwait and Iraq betwen August 1990 and April 1991. These concerns and this preparation are relevant to all investments but should now have special meaning to the hundreds of Western contractors, service organisations