A/HRC/30/44 participatory nature does not allow for involvement by affected stakeholders, or for an adequate balance between the need for States to ensure that they retain adequate policy and regulatory ability to protect human rights and provide investor protection, as clarified in Guiding Principle 9. With the new UNCITRAL rules and the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration, States have a practical means to promote good governance and respect for human rights with a broader policy framework that is aligned with the Guiding Principles. 64 23. These rules, when they apply, provide a transparent procedural regime under which investment treaty arbitrations are conducted. They can be used in investor-State arbitrations initiated under UNCITRAL arbitration rules, as well as under other institutional arbitration rules or in ad hoc proceedings. States can now incorporate them into investment treaties concluded on or after 1 April 2014, but for the rules to apply to disputes arising under the more than 3,000 investment treaties concluded before that date, the States parties to a treaty, or disputing parties in an investor-State arbitration, would need to agree to apply the rules under that treaty or to that dispute. This highlights the importance of the Convention on Transparency, which provides an efficient, multilateral mechanism by which States can agree, subject to relevant reservations, to apply the rules to all arbitrations arising under their investment treaties concluded before 1 April 2014. The Working Group welcomes the rules and considers that an obvious step for States to remedy incoherence between current modes of investment with norms for good governance and human rights considerations, including those set out in the Guiding Principles, would be to sign and ratify the Convention. 24. The Working Group is pleased to have had the opportunity to engage with UNCITRAL, including at its forty-seventh session in July 2014, and to note that in the report of that session the Commission agreed that the UNCITRAL secretariat should monitor developments in the area of business and human rights, in cooperation with relevant bodies within the United Nations and beyond and inform the Commission about developments of relevance to UNCITRAL work (see A/69/17, para. 204). Guiding principles on human rights impact assessments of trade and investment agreements, A/HRC/19/59/Add.5 – excerpts 25. All States should prepare human rights impact assessments prior to the conclusion of trade and investment agreements. 26. States must ensure that the conclusion of any trade or investment agreement does not impose obligations inconsistent with their pre-existing international treaty obligations, including those to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. 27. Human rights impact assessments of trade and investment agreements should be prepared prior to the conclusion of the agreements and in time to influence the outcomes of the negotiations and, if necessary, should be completed by ex post impact assessments. Based on the results of the human rights impact assessment, a range of responses exist where an incompatibility is found, including but not limited to the following: 64 (a) Termination of the agreement; (b) Amendment of the agreement; http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/investment-and-human-rights/portfolio-items/transparency-in-investment-treatyarbitration-and-the-un-guiding-principles-on-business-and-human-rights-the-new-uncitral-rules-andconvention-on-transparency/. 31