Gotowa bibliografia na temat „Arbitrage internationale”

RESUME: La conception autonomiste de l'arbitrage international mise en oeuvre par la Cour de cassation française a trouvé un point d'aboutissement avec les arrêts Putrabali rendus du 29 juin 2007. Une justification positive a en effet pour la première fois été apportée au principe d'autonomie de la sentence arbitrale, "décision de justice internationale" dont la reconnaissance et la régularité ont en conséquence vocation à être examinées au regard des règles applicables dans le pays où sa reconnaissance et son exécution sont demandées. Le traitement de l'inconciliabilité de décisions pouvant résulter de la consécration de cette autonomie de la sentence interna­tionale est assuré par le recours au mécanisme de l'autorité de chose jugée "fonctionnalisé" à cet effet, mais le fondement de la loyauté procédurale pourrait aussi, selon certains, être efficacement utilisé.

En conflit sur l’exécution d’un contrat, deux grandes entreprises prennent souvent la voie de l’arbitrage commercial international, plutôt que celle d’un tribunal officiel. Cette justice privée, volontaire et confidentielle, a été développée à partir de 1923 à la Chambre de commerce internationale, à Paris, en suivant deux directions : l’accumulation interne d’un savoir-faire pratique, issu de la résolution des litiges ; puis une série de négociations avec les États, notamment à la SDN et à l’ONU. Cette juridiction privée bénéficie aussi du soutien direct des États : depuis 1958, les actifs d’une entreprise qui perd un arbitrage peuvent très vite être saisis par la force publique. Ce régime d’arbitrage a évolué vers une forme d’extra-territorialité juridique. Néanmoins les seuls intérêts privés n’ont pas suffi à le faire naître. En effet, les acteurs centraux de son institutionnalisation ne sont pas de grandes entreprises, et celle-ci n’a eu lieu qu’avec l’assentiment, et même le soutien, des autorités publiques.

The text provides a comprehensive analysis of the role and evolution of international commercial arbitration as a method of alternative dispute resolution. It emphasizes the growing preference for arbitration in international commerce due to its speed, confidentiality, and perceived fairness. The text also highlights the efforts made by the Republic of Uzbekistan to develop its arbitration infrastructure, including its adherence to international conventions and the establishment of the Tashkent International Arbitration Center. The article further delves into the legal intricacies of arbitration agreements, discussing their validity, enforceability, and the formal requirements they must meet. It concludes by noting the ongoing changes in international standards and laws governing arbitration, suggesting that these are in response to the changing needs of the global market

Abstract. An analysis of international arbitration indicates that, prima facie, certain crucial differences between the continental approach and common law practice exist. The main differences relate to the general hearing (written/verbal), the position of the parties in relation to the arbitrator, the proof-taking procedure, the duty to give reasons for the decision, and the division of competences between the judiciary and the arbitrator. On the other hand it must be pointed out that the main trends in international arbitration lead to a blurring of these differences. In particular mention may be made of the lex mercatoria, reduction in judicial control, and the evolution towards transnational arbitration. Résumé. Quand on étudie l’arbitrage international, on s’aperçoit au premier abord qu’il existe des différences essentielles entre l’approche continentale et la pratique de common law. Ces différences se manifestent spécialement en ce qui concerne les règles générales relatives aux auditions (écrites/orales), la situation des parties à 1’égard de l’arbitre, le droit de la preuve, la force obligatoire de la décision et la division des compétences entre le judiciaire et l’arbitre. D’un autre côté, on doit constater que les tendances fondamentales en matière d’arbitrage international contribuent à l’effacement de ces différences. On peut spécialement se référer à la lex mercatoria, aux restrictions misus au contrôle judiciaire et à l’évalution vers un arbitrage transnational. Zusammenfassung. Analysiert man das internationale Schiedsgerichtsverfahren, bemerkt man auf den ersten Blick wesentliche Unterschiede zwischen der Methode des continentalen Rechtskreises und der Praxis im Bereich des common law. Diese Unterschiede treten besonders in Hinblick auf die allgemeine Anhörung (schriftlich/mündlich), die Stellung der Parteien im Verhältnis zum Schiedrichter, das Beweisverfahren, die Pflicht, die Entscheidung zu begründen, und in Bezug auf die Aufteilung der Kompetenzen zwischen der Gerichtsbikeit und dem Schiedrichter auf. Auf der anderen Seite muß man feststellen, daß grundlegende Tendenzen in internationalen Schiedsgerichtsverfahren dazu beitragen, die Unterschiede zu verwischen. Diesbezüglich kann man inbesondere auf die lex mercatoria, die Einschränkung gerichtlicher Kontrolle und die Entwicklung zu transnationalen Schiedsgerichtsverfahren hinweisen.

Straipsnyje analizuojamas arbitrų imuniteto institutas tarptautiniame komerciniame arbitraže. Tarptautiniame komerciniame arbitraže nėra bendros pozicijos dėl atsakomybės arbitrams taikymo ir jos ribojimo. Šio straipsnio tikslas, remiantis lyginamąja valstybių teisinių sistemų analize, suformuluoti mokslines rekomendacijas, susijusias su atsakomybės taikymu ir jos apribojimu arbitrams tarptautiniame komerciniame arbitraže. This article discusses arguable aspects of the application of the liability of arbitrators in international commercial arbitration. There is no uniform practice applicable to the immunity of arbitrators in the field. By means of comparative analysis of various countries legal systems, this article aims to construct recommendation regarding the arbitrator‘s immunity and liability issue in international commercial arbitration.

Tanpa adanya perjanjian arbitrase, para pihak tidak bisa beracara di arbitrase untuk menyelesaikan sengketa mereka. Tulisan ini berupa deskripsi dari syarat sahnya perjanjian arbitrasi menurut hukum Indonesia, yaitu di dalam UU No. 30 tahun 1999 dengan membandingkannya dengan persyaratan arbitrase menurut Reglement of de Burgelijke Rechtsvordering, amandemen terhadap hukum di Belanda, dan juga menurut Model Hukum UNCITRAL mengenai Arbitrasi Komersial Internasional (UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration) 1985 yang diakui secara internasional.

The technique of constitution of the arbitration is the major subject which is set in conflict which are solved by the arbitration. If its not, on the first place, precisely defined, big problems which can hardly be solved will occur and thats why is necessary to define this subject in arbitration contract.

The end of this decade leaves us with a scenario bare of any justification. There was not only the pursuit of certain logic for immediate profits but also the global aim to turn taxes (both local and international) into profits. Arbitrage was aimed to take advantage of differences in prices, and tax arbitrage went a step further aiming to turn the tax advantage into price. The aim was not solely to minimize the tax impact but also to add financial profits to the tax profit, which then became a source of income. The general principle against tax evasion establishes the restriction of any abusive practice in tax arbitrage. The double taxation principle needs the correlation of taxation, at least, in one place. One of the means used to avoid it was the use of financial hybrids and other hybrid forms. The Bank for International Settlements, Basel I, and the increasing role of credit rating agencies contributed substantially to the massive development of financial and tax arbitrage, both at local and international levels. We are in a position to know what triggered the financial markets crisis, but surprisingly enough, neither the financial law nor tax law has yet reacted. Scholars, regulations, and precedents provide sufficient basis for such a reaction!

La thèse s’interroge sur la possibilité d’unifier le régime juridique des conventions d’arbitrage internes et internationales. Après avoir apprécié dans un titre préliminaire la possibilité ainsi que l’opportunité de l’adoption d’une même conception de l’autonomie des conventions d’arbitrage interne et international, cette thèse traite de l’unification des conditions de formation de la convention d’arbitrage et des règles qui régissent son exécution. La première partie (La formation de la convention d’arbitrage) examine la possibilité de l’unification des conditions de forme et de fond de formation de la convention d’arbitrage (Titre 1), ainsi que de son domaine (Titre 2). Il s’agit de se demander dans quelle mesure, un mouvement de rapprochement des deux régimes pourrait, au-delà d’une simple harmonisation des solutions, déboucher sur une unification véritable des conditions de formation de la convention d’arbitrage. Dans ce même esprit, la seconde partie s’attache à l’exécution de la convention d’arbitrage. Dans un premier titre, est appréciée l’éventualité d’une unité des effets des conventions d’arbitrage interne et internationale. Le second titre est consacré à l’étude de l’unité des règles qui régissent la transmission et l’extension de la convention d’arbitrage, interne ou internationale.

L'etude des engagements souscrits en matiere de reglement pacifique des differends interetatiques ainsi que de leur application dans la pratique, permet de voir dans quelle mesure de tels engagements contribuent effectivement au reglement des differends. On peut ainsi mieux apprehender l'apport specifique de l'acceptation d'obligations dans ce domaine
The study of obligations contracted in the field of dispute settlement and of their application in practice, offers a basis for evaluating the role and prospects of the various dispute settlement methods in interstate relations

L’arbitrage commercial international dans lequel une des parties est étatique est aussi actuel que décrié. Les tribunaux étatiques doivent renoncer à leur pouvoir d’appréciation de la validité légale et de l’efficacité de la convention d’arbitrage commerciale internationale, même si cette dernière n’est pas conforme à leur droit national. On comprend facilement les problèmes de légitimité que pose cette convention vis-à-vis de l’État partie. La question des intérêts étatiques dans l’arbitrage commercial international représente des enjeux non seulement juridiques mais également économiques importants pour les États. Notre première partie est dédiée à l’étude des instruments juridiques favorisant, dans l’intérêt des États, l’extension de la validité de la convention d’arbitrage à l’égard de la personne publique ; tandis que la seconde partie aborde les délicates questions, soulevées lors de différends engagés, qui tendent à remettre en cause la validité ou l’efficacité de la convention d’arbitrage, en raison d’allégations par la personne publique, de violations de certaines normes juridiques internes ou de certains changements politiques ou économiques. Depuis quelques décennies, la jurisprudence et la doctrine françaises prônent le fait que la convention d’arbitrage insérée dans un contrat international a une efficacité et une validité propres. Nos recherches nous ont permis de trouver le corps de règles et de principes fondant le cadre juridique de la convention d’arbitrage véritablement détachée de tout lien national avec les autorités et les droits nationaux, en démontrant par ailleurs l’inefficacité récurrente de solutions recherchées sur le terrain des conflits de lois de procédure ou par le recours aux tribunaux des États. Cette théorie est particulièrement mise en exergue lorsqu’une personne publique est partie à un arbitrage commercial international. Nous analysons de manière critique pour les intérêts des États, le recours à la protection diplomatique comme voie de substitution à l’inefficacité ou l’invalidité de la convention d’arbitrage. Le recours à l’exercice de la protection diplomatique est un recours extrêmement subjectif, car dépendant à la fois du jugement arbitraire de l’état protecteur par rapport à son ressortissant et de la puissance de cet État sur la scène internationale. Les opérateurs économiques ne sont pas en situation d’égalité lorsqu’il s’agit de juger de la bonne ou mauvaise exécution des obligations contractuelles relevant d’un contrat international, puisqu’il n’est plus question d’un recours objectif grâce au droit, mais une question de puissance entre États. D’autant plus que l’exercice de la protection diplomatique a souvent amené des conflits interétatiques. Notre thèse défend la légitimité, la pertinence et les avantages de la convention d’arbitrage à travers le kaléidoscope de nombreuses sources juridiques internationales et au regard de la prévalence des intérêts étatiques. Même si cela peut paraître a priori paradoxal, il n’y a aucun paradoxe pour les États à s’engager de manière conventionnelle à renoncer aux pouvoirs discrétionnaires des juridictions nationales, au contraire les relations économiques internationales sont basées sur la confiance, la moralité et la loyauté, et l’arbitrage commercial international atteint cet objectif en offrant une voie de recours internationale judiciaire objective pour les deux parties
The international commercial arbitration in which one party is a State party is as current as criticized. The State courts may have to give up exercising their discretion of the legal validity and the efficacy of the international commercial arbitration agreement, even if the latter does not conform to their national law. It is easy to understand the problem of legitimacy posed by this agreement opposite to the State party. The question of State interest in international commercial arbitration represents not only important legal issues but also economic issues for the State. The first part is dedicated to the study of the legal instruments favoring, in the interest of the State, the extension of the validity of the arbitration agreement towards the State; whereas the second part deals with the delicate questions raised during disputes which call into question the validity or the efficacy of the arbitration agreement, due to the allegations made by the public entity based on violations of certain national legal provisions or changes in economic or political circumstances. For a few decades, the jurisprudence and the French doctrine advocate that the arbitration agreement in an international contract has its own efficacy and validity. Our legal research has revealed the body of rules and principles basing the legal framework of the arbitration agreement detached of some link with authorities and with the national law. At the same time, we demonstrate the repeating ineffectiveness of the remedies sought on the ground of the conflicts of procedural legislations or by recourse to State court. This theory is particularly underlined when a public entity is a party to an international commercial arbitration. We critically analyze for the State interest, the exercise of diplomatic protection as a substitute remedy against the inefficiency or invalidity of the arbitration agreement. The exercise of diplomatic protection is highly subjective, because it depends simultaneously on the arbitrary judgment of the protective State with respect to its national and to the power of this State on the international scene. The economic operators are not on an equal footing while it is a question to rule the proper or improper performance of contractual obligations based on an international contract, because it is no longer a matter of an objective remedy through the right, but a matter of power between the States. This is all the more the case as the exercise of diplomatic protection has often leaded to inter-state conflicts. Our thesis defends the legitimacy, pertinence and advantages of the arbitration agreement through the kaleidoscope of many international legal sources and with regard to the prevalence of State interest. However paradoxical that might seem a priori, there is no paradox for the State to engage itself in a conventional manner to waive its discretionary power of domestic jurisdiction. On the contrary, the international economic relations are based on trust, morality and loyalty, and international commercial arbitration achieved that goal by providing an effective international judicial remedy for both parties

La thèse tente de réaliser la conciliation nécessaire entre lois de police et arbitrage international. Dans un premier temps, la thèse définit l'office de l'arbitre face aux lois de police. L'opinion défendue est celle d'une obligation pour l'arbitre de prendre en compte le phénomène des lois de police, qui se justifie par la nature de l'institution arbitrale et par le lien existant entre cette institution et les états. Ainsi, l'obligation se justifie tant par la source eétatique de l'institution arbitrale, que par le contrôle étatique exercé sur cette institution. Une fois le principe posé, la thèse tente, dans un second temps, de définir les modalités de la prise en compte des lois de police par l'arbitre. Tout d'abord, la thèse opère un choix favorable à la méthode des lois de police, au détriment de celle de l'ordre public véritablement international, pour définir les limites à la liberté contractuelle dans le commerce international. Ensuite, elle définit précisément la méthode de selection par l'arbitre des lois de police légitimement applicables au litige. Enfin, elle s'intéresse à la question de l'application par l'arbitre des lois de police retenues comme légitimement applicables.

Les juridictions etatiques exercent un droit de controle sur les sentences arbitra le controle des sentences arbitrales par les juridictions etatiques peut s'exercer, d'une part, a l'occasion des demandes de reconnaissance et d'exequatur des sentences dans chaque etat dans lequel ces demandes sont formulees et, d'autre part, a l'occasion des actions en annulation ouvertes a leur encontre. Il n'existe aucune convention multilaterale sur competence d'annulation et l'etendue du controle exerce par les juridictions nationale l'occasion des actions en annulation ouvertes a l'encontre des sentences. De nombreuses conventions multilaterales portent, en revanche, sur les modalites et l'etendue du contole de la reconnaissance et l'execution des sentences. La principale est la convention de new york de 1958. Si cette convention a mis en place un dispositif sans precedent en faveur de la reconnaissance et de l'execution des sentences etrangeres, elle n'a, en revanche pas facilite leur execution uniforme dans les etats contractants ni opere une articulation effective et harmonieuse entre le controle exerce a l'occasion des actions en annulation celui exerce lors de l'execution des sentences arbitrales. Tels n'ont d'ailleurs jamais ete ses objectifs. La convention de new york n'est pas une legislation uniforme mais se contente de prevoir, a travers des formulations parfois maladroites, les conditions minimales de la reconnaissance et de l'execution des sentences. Des lors, l'annulation de la sentence consideree par la convention de new york comme une cause de refus d'execution - ne figurant pas parmi les griefs de refus d'execution des sentences expressement retenus dans certains droits tres favorables a l'arbitage, ou encore ne pouvant, dans certaines hypoheses, motiver un refus d'execution sous le regime de la convention europeenne s, l'arbitrage commercial international de 1961, se pose le probleme de l'execution judiciaire des sentences arbitrales annulees. L'autriche, la belgique, la france et les etats-unis sont, aujourd'hui, les etats dont les juridictions ont deja execute des sentences qui ont ete rendues et annulees a l'etranger. D'autres etats semblent disposer d'un cadre juridique permettant leurs juridictions de suivre cette meme voie. Cette <> de l'efficacite internationale de l'annulation d'une sentence repose sur de nombreux fondements jurid

La jurisprudence arbitrale et judiciaire relative aux différends territoriaux terrestres et maritimes est marquée par une tendance transactionnelle. Les résultats des sentences arbitrales, depuis la naissance de l'arbitrage moderne à la fin du XIXème siècle, ainsi que des arrêts de la Cour internationale de Justice, consacrent en effet des tracés frontaliers se situant entre les revendications respectives des parties, mais assurent aussi plus globalement un équitable partage des espaces et des ressources. Ce phénomène s'explique par le fondement consensualiste du règlement juridictionnel des différends, mais s'exprime de façon symptomatique dans la jurisprudence relative aux différends territoriaux, en raison de la nature de ces litiges, ainsi que de leur enjeu géostratégique, économique et émotionnel. Il est aussi dû à la particulière flexibilité des règles et des principes applicables, qui laisse un pouvoir d'appréciation très grand au juge international. Cette thèse témoigne de l'instrumentalisation qui est faite du contenu des décisions juridictionnelles au profit de solutions équilibrées. Elle démontre aussi que les distinctions classiques du contentieux territorial entre différends d'attribution et de délimitation, mais aussi entre différends maritimes et terrestres, peuvent être nuancées du point de vue de la politique judiciaire mise en œuvre.

Description de l'ensemble des mécanismes qui permettent la saisine de la cour internationale de justice. Si, au départ, comme cela avait été prévu, la clause de juridiction obligatoire a connu beaucoup de succès, par la suite nous assistons à une diversification des modes de saisine de la cour et a une orientation vers le système du compromis qui se rapproche plus du système arbitral que d'une juridiction permanente
Escription of all the mechanisms which make possible the seisin of icj. If, at the beginning, as it had been specified, the clause of compulsory jurisdiction has proved quite successful, after that, we have encountered a diversification of the means of the seisin of the icj and a tendency towards the compromise's method which is much more similar to the arbitral system than to the permanent jurisdiction

Les jugements des tribunaux internationaux jouent un rôle important dans l'établissement de la paix dans le monde. Une bonne sentence doit être basée sur une bonne procédure. C'est la raison pour laquelle cette thèse analyse la procédure de la cour internationale de justice (CIJ), la chambre de commerce internationale (CCI) et le centre international pour le règlement des différends relatifs aux investissements (CIRDI), lesquels sont des juridictions internationales. Elles fonctionnent de façon permanente. L'objectif de cette étude est de montrer les points communs et les particularités de ces juridictions. Pour cela, les textes, les règlements et les principales jurisprudences établis par les juges de la CIJ et les arbitres de la CCI et du CIRDI sont analysés dans cette thèse.

La faillite internationale constitue un élément essentiel de la construction d'un marché international efficient. La recherche d'une solution, d'une méthodologie de règlement de la faillite internationale s'est concrétisée récemment en des instruments internationaux nouveaux : le Règlement (CE) Nʿ 1346/2000 relatif aux procédures d'insolvabilité, l'Acte Uniforme portant organisation des procédures collectives d'apurement du passif de l'OHADA, la Loi type sur l'insolvabilité internationale de la CNUDCI et le Concordat sur l'insolvabilité internationale de l'IBA. Ces nouveaux instruments dépassent la dualité universalité / territorialité en rationalisant la compétence juridictionnelle et législative et en introduisant une articulation inédite entre une procédure principale et des procédures secondaires. De plus, ils posent des règles matérielles traduisant une relation complexe entre uniformisation et pluralisme juridique et peuvent œuvrer en faveur d'une homogénéité d'un droit matériel de la faillite internationale à travers une mécanique du système normatif ou par un effet de concurrence et de contagion
An international bankruptcy regime is an essential element of the construction of an efficient international market. Recently, new international instruments have given a concrete expression to the search for a solution, for a methodology of settlement of international insolvency : the (EC) Regulation Nʿ 1346 on insolvency proceedings, the OHADA Uniform Act organizing collective proceedings for wiping off debts, the UNCITRAL Model law on cross-border insolvency and the IBA Cross-border insolvency Concordat. These new instruments go beyond the duality between universality and territoriality as they rationalize international jurisdiction and applicable law and introduce a novel articulation between main and secondary proceedings. Moreover, they set substantive rules which convey a complex relation between legal uniformisation and pluralism and they may act in favour of a homogeneity of the substantive regime of international bankruptcy through normative system mechanics or through a competition and contagion effect

Confidentiality of arbitration is told to be one of the reasons why parties actually choose to arbitrate. The question of whether the arbitral award should remain confidential is however not unified across different jurisdictions. The regulation of this matter varies even when it comes to rules of various arbitration tribunals. Some jurisdictions consider the confidentiality of arbitral award to be an implied obligation derived from the very nature of arbitral process. This article analyses the legal regulation of confidentiality of arbitral awards on various levels while the importance of the publication is presented in the context of the lack of decisional coherence in international arbitration. Further, the resolution of potential conflict of the regulations is analysed. There are good reasons for making awards publicly available. Considering the information society of the 21st century, the fact that the publication of awards is regulated differently in different jurisdictions is a hindrance of parties’ legal certainty.

In the case of international disputes resolved by means of arbitration, the cross-border effects of the awards are essential for the parties. At first glance, these awards are assimilated to the national court judgements of the state where they were pronounced and are considered foreign court judgements in any other state. Nevertheless, in some cases, the links between the arbitral procedures and the place of pronouncement of the awards are weak or even non-existent, which raises serios doubts over the ability of this specific place to determine the nationality of the arbitral award. The described circumstance is the premise of the present scientific approach, which aims to deepen the analysis of the criteria for determining the nationality of an arbitral award (by a Romanian court), with implications on its cross-border effects, as well as on the procedures that could lead to its dissolution. From a methodological point of view, the research aims, successively, to inventory the applicable legal instruments, to delineate the solutions offered by them, in order to, finally, by overlapping them, provide a comprehensive theory on the determination of the nationality of an arbitral award.

The Interim guidelines on the second generation intact stability criteria were approved by IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) in December 2020 (MSC.1/Circ.1627). These were followed by MSC’s approval of Explanatory Notes to the Interim guidelines in April 2022. Under development internationally for nearly two decades, the second generation intact stability criteria are, in most respects, based on the assessment of the dynamics of stability failures. Therefore, they are unlike previous stability criteria that evaluate quantities of various common static stability parameters against established, but arbitrary, standards for compliance. This paper provides an overview of the second generation intact stability criteria, explains how it is intended to be used, its relationship to existing international ship stability criteria, and describes a process by which practicing naval architects may use it. The paper also identifies possible shortcomings of the criteria and areas in which particular caution should be exercised in its use. Lastly, proposals for future enhancement of the criteria are summarized.

An extended abstract of this report was submitted to the Seventh International Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KR2000). When reasoning in description, modal or temporal logics it is often useful to consider axioms representing universal truths in the domain of discourse. Reasoning with respect to an arbitrary set of axioms is hard, even for relatively inexpressive logics, and it is essential to deal with such axioms in an efficient manner if implemented systems are to be effective in real applications. This is particularly relevant to Description Logics, where subsumption reasoning with respect to a terminology is a fundamental problem. Two optimisation techniques that have proved to be particularly effective in dealing with terminologies are lazy unfolding and absorption. In this paper we seek to improve our theoretical understanding of these important techniques. We define a formal framework that allows the techniques to be precisely described, establish conditions under which they can be safely applied, and prove that, provided these conditions are respected, subsumption testing algorithms will still function correctly. These results are used to show that the procedures used in the FaCT system are correct and, moreover, to show how effiency an be significantly improved, while still retaining the guarantee of correctness, by relaxing the safety conditions for absorption.

Banco de la República is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023. This is a very significant anniversary and one that provides an opportunity to highlight the contribution the Bank has made to the country’s development. Its track record as guarantor of monetary stability has established it as the one independent state institution that generates the greatest confidence among Colombians due to its transparency, management capabilities, and effective compliance with the central banking and cultural responsibilities entrusted to it by the Constitution and the Law. On a date as important as this, the Board of Directors of Banco de la República (BDBR) pays tribute to the generations of governors and officers whose commitment and dedication have contributed to the growth of this institution.1 Banco de la República’s mandate was confirmed in the National Constitutional Assembly of 1991 where the citizens had the opportunity to elect the seventy people who would have the task of drafting a new constitution. The leaders of the three political movements with the most votes were elected as chairs to the Assembly, and this tripartite presidency reflected the plurality and the need for consensus among the different political groups to move the reform forward. Among the issues considered, the National Constitutional Assembly gave special importance to monetary stability. That is why they decided to include central banking and to provide Banco de la República with the necessary autonomy to use the instruments for which they are responsible without interference from other authorities. The constituent members understood that ensuring price stability is a state duty and that the entity responsible for this task must be enshrined in the Constitution and have the technical capability and institutional autonomy necessary to adopt the decisions they deem appropriate to achieve this fundamental objective in coordination with the general economic policy. In particular, Article 373 established that “the State, through Banco de la República, shall ensure the maintenance of the purchasing power of the currency,” a provision that coincided with the central banking system adopted by countries that have been successful in controlling inflation. In 1999, in Ruling 481, the Constitutional Court stated that “the duty to maintain the purchasing power of the currency applies to not only the monetary, credit, and exchange authority, i.e., the Board of Banco de la República, but also those who have responsibilities in the formulation and implementation of the general economic policy of the country” and that “the basic constitutional purpose of Banco de la República is the protection of a sound currency. However, this authority must take the other economic objectives of state intervention such as full employment into consideration in their decisions since these functions must be coordinated with the general economic policy.” The reforms to Banco de la República agreed upon in the Constitutional Assembly of 1991 and in Act 31/1992 can be summarized in the following aspects: i) the Bank was assigned a specific mandate: to maintain the purchasing power of the currency in coordination with the general economic policy; ii) the BDBR was designatedas the monetary, foreign exchange, and credit authority; iii) the Bank and its Board of Directors were granted a significant degree of independence from the government; iv) the Bank was prohibited from granting credit to the private sector except in the case of the financial sector; v) established that in order to grant credit to the government, the unanimous vote of its Board of Directors was required except in the case of open market transactions; vi) determined that the legislature may, in no case, order credit quotas in favor of the State or individuals; vii) Congress was appointed, on behalf of society, as the main addressee of the Bank’s reporting exercise; and viii) the responsibility for inspection, surveillance, and control over Banco de la República was delegated to the President of the Republic. The members of the National Constitutional Assembly clearly understood that the benefits of low and stable inflation extend to the whole of society and contribute mto the smooth functioning of the economic system. Among the most important of these is that low inflation promotes the efficient use of productive resources by allowing relative prices to better guide the allocation of resources since this promotes economic growth and increases the welfare of the population. Likewise, low inflation reduces uncertainty about the expected return on investment and future asset prices. This increases the confidence of economic agents, facilitates long-term financing, and stimulates investment. Since the low-income population is unable to protect itself from inflation by diversifying its assets, and a high proportion of its income is concentrated in the purchase of food and other basic goods that are generally the most affected by inflationary shocks, low inflation avoids arbitrary redistribution of income and wealth.2 Moreover, low inflation facilitates wage negotiations, creates a good labor climate, and reduces the volatility of employment levels. Finally, low inflation helps to make the tax system more transparent and equitable by avoiding the distortions that inflation introduces into the value of assets and income that make up the tax base. From the monetary authority’s point of view, one of the most relevant benefits of low inflation is the credibility that economic agents acquire in inflation targeting, which turns it into an effective nominal anchor on price levels. Upon receiving its mandate, and using its autonomy, Banco de la República began to announce specific annual inflation targets as of 1992. Although the proposed inflation targets were not met precisely during this first stage, a downward trend in inflation was achieved that took it from 32.4% in 1990 to 16.7% in 1998. At that time, the exchange rate was kept within a band. This limited the effectiveness of monetary policy, which simultaneously sought to meet an inflation target and an exchange rate target. The Asian crisis spread to emerging economies and significantly affected the Colombian economy. The exchange rate came under strong pressure to depreciate as access to foreign financing was cut off under conditions of a high foreign imbalance. This, together with the lack of exchange rate flexibility, prevented a countercyclical monetary policy and led to a 4.2% contraction in GDP that year. In this context of economic slowdown, annual inflation fell to 9.2% at the end of 1999, thus falling below the 15% target set for that year. This episode fully revealed how costly it could be, in terms of economic activity, to have inflation and exchange rate targets simultaneously. Towards the end of 1999, Banco de la República announced the adoption of a new monetary policy regime called the Inflation Targeting Plan. This regime, known internationally as ‘Inflation Targeting,’ has been gaining increasing acceptance in developed countries, having been adopted in 1991 by New Zealand, Canada, and England, among others, and has achieved significant advances in the management of inflation without incurring costs in terms of economic activity. In Latin America, Brazil and Chile also adopted it in 1999. In the case of Colombia, the last remaining requirement to be fulfilled in order to adopt said policy was exchange rate flexibility. This was realized around September 1999, when the BDBR decided to abandon the exchange-rate bands to allow the exchange rate to be freely determined in the market.Consistent with the constitutional mandate, the fundamental objective of this new policy approach was “the achievement of an inflation target that contributes to maintaining output growth around its potential.”3 This potential capacity was understood as the GDP growth that the economy can obtain if it fully utilizes its productive resources. To meet this objective, monetary policy must of necessity play a countercyclical role in the economy. This is because when economic activity is below its potential and there are idle resources, the monetary authority can reduce the interest rate in the absence of inflationary pressure to stimulate the economy and, when output exceeds its potential capacity, raise it. This policy principle, which is immersed in the models for guiding the monetary policy stance, makes the following two objectives fully compatible in the medium term: meeting the inflation target and achieving a level of economic activity that is consistent with its productive capacity. To achieve this purpose, the inflation targeting system uses the money market interest rate (at which the central bank supplies primary liquidity to commercial banks) as the primary policy instrument. This replaced the quantity of money as an intermediate monetary policy target that Banco de la República, like several other central banks, had used for a long time. In the case of Colombia, the objective of the new monetary policy approach implied, in practical terms, that the recovery of the economy after the 1999 contraction should be achieved while complying with the decreasing inflation targets established by the BDBR. The accomplishment of this purpose was remarkable. In the first half of the first decade of the 2000s, economic activity recovered significantly and reached a growth rate of 6.8% in 2006. Meanwhile, inflation gradually declined in line with inflation targets. That was how the inflation rate went from 9.2% in 1999 to 4.5% in 2006, thus meeting the inflation target established for that year while GDP reached its potential level. After this balance was achieved in 2006, inflation rebounded to 5.7% in 2007, above the 4.0% target for that year due to the fact that the 7.5% GDP growth exceeded the potential capacity of the economy.4 After proving the effectiveness of the inflation targeting system in its first years of operation, this policy regime continued to consolidate as the BDBR and the technical staff gained experience in its management and state-of-the-art economic models were incorporated to diagnose the present and future state of the economy and to assess the persistence of inflation deviations and expectations with respect to the inflation target. Beginning in 2010, the BDBR established the long-term 3.0% annual inflation target, which remains in effect today. Lower inflation has contributed to making the macroeconomic environment more stable, and this has favored sustained economic growth, financial stability, capital market development, and the functioning of payment systems. As a result, reductions in the inflationary risk premia and lower TES and credit interest rates were achieved. At the same time, the duration of public domestic debt increased significantly going from 2.27 years in December 2002 to 5.86 years in December 2022, and financial deepening, measured as the level of the portfolio as a percentage of GDP, went from around 20% in the mid-1990s to values above 45% in recent years in a healthy context for credit institutions.Having been granted autonomy by the Constitution to fulfill the mandate of preserving the purchasing power of the currency, the tangible achievements made by Banco de la República in managing inflation together with the significant benefits derived from the process of bringing inflation to its long-term target, make the BDBR’s current challenge to return inflation to the 3.0% target even more demanding and pressing. As is well known, starting in 2021, and especially in 2022, inflation in Colombia once again became a serious economic problem with high welfare costs. The inflationary phenomenon has not been exclusive to Colombia and many other developed and emerging countries have seen their inflation rates move away from the targets proposed by their central banks.5 The reasons for this phenomenon have been analyzed in recent Reports to Congress, and this new edition delves deeper into the subject with updated information. The solid institutional and technical base that supports the inflation targeting approach under which the monetary policy strategy operates gives the BDBR the necessary elements to face this difficult challenge with confidence. In this regard, the BDBR reiterated its commitment to the 3.0% inflation target in its November 25 communiqué and expects it to be reached by the end of 2024.6 Monetary policy will continue to focus on meeting this objective while ensuring the sustainability of economic activity, as mandated by the Constitution. Analyst surveys done in March showed a significant increase (from 32.3% in January to 48.5% in March) in the percentage of responses placing inflation expectations two years or more ahead in a range between 3.0% and 4.0%. This is a clear indication of the recovery of credibility in the medium-term inflation target and is consistent with the BDBR’s announcement made in November 2022. The moderation of the upward trend in inflation seen in January, and especially in February, will help to reinforce this revision of inflation expectations and will help to meet the proposed targets. After reaching 5.6% at the end of 2021, inflation maintained an upward trend throughout 2022 due to inflationary pressures from both external sources, associated with the aftermath of the pandemic and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and domestic sources, resulting from: strengthening of local demand; price indexation processes stimulated by the increase in inflation expectations; the impact on food production caused by the mid-2021 strike; and the pass-through of depreciation to prices. The 10% increase in the minimum wage in 2021 and the 16% increase in 2022, both of which exceeded the actual inflation and the increase in productivity, accentuated the indexation processes by establishing a high nominal adjustment benchmark. Thus, total inflation went to 13.1% by the end of 2022. The annual change in food prices, which went from 17.2% to 27.8% between those two years, was the most influential factor in the surge in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Another segment that contributed significantly to price increases was regulated products, which saw the annual change go from 7.1% in December 2021 to 11.8% by the end of 2022. The measure of core inflation excluding food and regulated items, in turn, went from 2.5% to 9.5% between the end of 2021 and the end of 2022. The substantial increase in core inflation shows that inflationary pressure has spread to most of the items in the household basket, which is characteristic of inflationary processes with generalized price indexation as is the case in Colombia. Monetary policy began to react early to this inflationary pressure. Thus, starting with its September 2021 session, the BDBR began a progressive change in the monetary policy stance moving away from the historical low of a 1.75% policy rate that had intended to stimulate the recovery of the economy. This adjustment process continued without interruption throughout 2022 and into the beginning of 2023 when the monetary policy rate reached 12.75% last January, thus accumulating an increase of 11 percentage points (pp). The public and the markets have been surprised that inflation continued to rise despite significant interest rate increases. However, as the BDBR has explained in its various communiqués, monetary policy works with a lag. Just as in 2022 economic activity recovered to a level above the pre-pandemic level, driven, along with other factors, by the monetary stimulus granted during the pandemic period and subsequent months, so too the effects of the current restrictive monetary policy will gradually take effect. This will allow us to expect the inflation rate to converge to 3.0% by the end of 2024 as is the BDBR’s purpose.Inflation results for January and February of this year showed declining marginal increases (13 bp and 3 bp respectively) compared to the change seen in December (59 bp). This suggests that a turning point in the inflation trend is approaching. In other Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, Perú, and Mexico, inflation has peaked and has begun to decline slowly, albeit with some ups and downs. It is to be expected that a similar process will take place in Colombia in the coming months. The expected decline in inflation in 2023 will be due, along with other factors, to lower cost pressure from abroad as a result of the gradual normalization of supply chains, the overcoming of supply shocks caused by the weather, and road blockades in previous years. This will be reflected in lower adjustments in food prices, as has already been seen in the first two months of the year and, of course, the lagged effect of monetary policy. The process of inflation convergence to the target will be gradual and will extend beyond 2023. This process will be facilitated if devaluation pressure is reversed. To this end, it is essential to continue consolidating fiscal sustainability and avoid messages on different public policy fronts that generate uncertainty and distrust. 1 This Report to Congress includes Box 1, which summarizes the trajectory of Banco de la República over the past 100 years. In addition, under the Bank’s auspices, several books that delve into various aspects of the history of this institution have been published in recent years. See, for example: Historia del Banco de la República 1923-2015; Tres banqueros centrales; Junta Directiva del Banco de la República: grandes episodios en 30 años de historia; Banco de la República: 90 años de la banca central en Colombia. 2 This is why lower inflation has been reflected in a reduction of income inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient that went from 58.7 in 1998 to 51.3 in the year prior to the pandemic. 3 See Gómez Javier, Uribe José Darío, Vargas Hernando (2002). “The Implementation of Inflation Targeting in Colombia”. Borradores de Economía, No. 202, March, available at: https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/5220 4 See López-Enciso Enrique A.; Vargas-Herrera Hernando and Rodríguez-Niño Norberto (2016). “The inflation targeting strategy in Colombia. An historical view.” Borradores de Economía, No. 952. https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/6263 5 According to the IMF, the percentage change in consumer prices between 2021 and 2022 went from 3.1% to 7.3% for advanced economies, and from 5.9% to 9.9% for emerging market and developing economies. 6 https://www.banrep.gov.co/es/noticias/junta-directiva-banco-republica-reitera-meta-inflacion-3