Art. 28 is the first Article in the Convention's Chapter III on Conciliation. Art. 28 is entitled “Request for Conciliation”. Other Articles in Chapter III deal with the “Constitution of the Conciliation Commission” (Arts. 29–31) and “Conciliation Proceedings” (Arts. 32–35).

Art. 28 is substantively identical to Art. 36, its counterpart in the Chapter on Arbitration. The only difference is the substitution of the word “conciliation” for “arbitration” in Art. 28(1) and (2).

All drafts to the Convention leading to Art. 28 were identical to the parallel drafts leading to Art. 36 (History, Vol. I, pp. 140, 142, 144, 170, 172, 174). The two provisions were mostly discussed together (see Art. 36, paras. 10, 19, 23, 30, 44, 48 and 57). The debates on the drafts that became Art. 28 (History, Vol. II, pp. 326/7, 412, 508/9, 568, 790, 946, 982) did not lead to any differentiations in the texts. There were suggestions to treat the institution of conciliation proceedings differently from the institution of arbitration proceedings in view of the more consensual nature of conciliation (at pp. 262/3, 404, 409, 770, 778). It was pointed out that, since conciliation could only take place if both parties cooperated, requests for conciliation should be submitted jointly by both parties (at p. 771). However, in a vote it was decided that the rules for the institution of conciliation proceedings and for arbitration proceedings would be kept identical (at p. 782).