Senior Counsel and Busoga Tourism, Culture and Heritage Minister, Hon. Hellen Namutamba, said it was a profound honour to represent Uganda at the historic First UNCITRAL-HCCH Joint Session on the Cross-Border Legal Dimensions of Digital Trade, held from 9th to 12th November 2026 at the Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria – the home of the United Nations.
This was not just another meeting. It was the first time the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) sat together in a formal Joint Session to tackle one of the most urgent questions of our time: How does international law keep up with digital trade?
The Joint Session was agreed at UNCITRAL’s 59th session in New York, held from 29 June to 10 July 2026, to bring together the work of the two organisations, examine how their approaches interact, and identify areas for closer cooperation and coordination.
On the HCCH side, the work also covered its ongoing projects on CBDCs, digital tokens, and the digital economy, including developing private international law rules to complement the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR).
Why It Matters
Every cross-border digital transaction raises the same three questions: Which court decides? Which law applies? And will the decision be recognised in another country?
Without clear answers, businesses, especially small businesses and startups, face uncertainty, high costs and risk. With clear, harmonised rules, digital trade can become more inclusive, secure and beneficial for all nations, including developing countries.
The Vienna session will be followed by a Second Joint Session to be hosted by the HCCH in The Hague from 19 to 22 January 2027.
“To have been part of this global conversation was a privilege, a chance to contribute, to learn from brilliant minds shaping the future of international trade law, and to ensure that Africa’s voice and perspective are heard in the making of the rules that will govern tomorrow’s digital economy,” Hon. Hellen Namutamba said.
