Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

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The United Nations Compensation Commission was created
in 1991 to settle claims arising out of Iraq’s invasion of
Kuwait during the Gulf War. William Huth provides a thorough
examination of the UNCC’s approach to the resolution of
such claims and explains how this tribunal constitutes an
important template for the disposition of future commercial
disputes arising out of international conflict.

The United Nations Compensation Commission
(UNCC) created by the U.N.
Security Council to settle claims arising out of
the Gulf War is an important international claims tribunal
by any measure.1

Since its establishment in May 1991,2 the UNCC, located in Geneva,
Switzerland, has had an excellent track record in terms of organization, efficiency,
and the application of sophisticated modern techniques for assessing and adjudicating
mass claims of individuals. Reporting to the Security Council, a political arm of
the United Nations, and not an arm of the International Court of Justice, the
UNCC considers itself primarily a fact-finding body, although it has had to decide
significant legal issues when assessing claims pending before it. This nonpolitical
undertaking was different from what has been expected previously of the Security
Council.3 The UNCC’s Governing Council has the same membership as the
Security Council, and in part for this reason, the commission has not been totally
apolitical.