Programme Day 1 (23 April, Thursday) UNCITRAL SINGAPORE SEMINAR 8:30am 9:00am Registration Welcome Remarks by Chairman of Organising Committee, Mr Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck, SC Introductory Remarks by Mr Renaud Sorieul, The Secretary of UNCITRAL Introductory Remarks by Ms Thian Yee Sze, Director General, Legal Group, Ministry of Law 9.20am 9.45am Keynote Address Introduction by Mr Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck, SC Address by Mr V K Rajah, SC Attorney General of the Republic of Singapore 9.45am 10.15am 35 years of the CISG: An overview of the CISG, its formulation and its progress in the past 35 years. Moderator: Mr Chong Kah Wei, Deputy Senior State Counsel, Singapore Speaker: Mr Luca Castellani, Legal Officer, UNCITRAL Q & A 10.15am 10.45am Tea Break 10.45am 11.30am Singapore and the CISG Moderator: Mr Goh Phai Cheng, SC, former Judicial Commissioner of the High Court of Singapore and a former Chairman of UNCITRAL Mr Charles Lim Aeng Cheng, Parliamentary Counsel (Special Projects) and Chief Knowledge Officer, Attorney General s Chambers, Singapore) Mr Soh Kee Bun, Senior State Counsel, Civil Division, Attorney General s Chambers, Singapore Commentator: A/Prof Gary Bell, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore
Q & A 11.30am 12.30pm Panel Discussion: Working the CISG Moderator: Mr Lawrence Boo, Head of Chambers, The Arbitration Chambers (Singapore) Practical application of the CISG : Mr Toh Kian Sing, SC: Senior Partner, M/S Rajah & Tann, Unresolved legal issues in the CISG: A/Professor Gary Low, Faculty of Law, Singapore Management University. International Commercial Arbitration and the CISG: Mr Chan Leng Sun SC, President, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators 12.30pm 2.00pm Lunch Break 2.00pm 2.45pm CISG in the Asia Pacific Region Moderator: Mr David N Smith, Professor of Law (Practice), Singapore Management University. Professor Shijian Mo, Dean, University of Macau, Faculty of Law, Peoples Republic of China Professor Takashi Uchida, Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo, Part time Senior Advisor on Legislative Reform, the Ministry of Justice of Japan 2.45pm 3.15pm Regional efforts at the harmonization of commercial laws. Moderator: Mr Leong Kwang Ian, Director, Legal Policy, Ministry of Law, Singapore) Speaker: Professor Hsu Locknie Chairperson, ASEAN Law Association s Trade & Investment Group Commentator: Mr Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck, SC, Deputy Solicitor General, Attorney General s Chambers
3.15pm 4.15pm Panel Discussion: CISG: Progress and Issues in implementation Moderator: Mr Joao Ribeiro, Head, UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RCAP) Indonesia Philippines Sri Lanka Thailand RCAP 4.15pm 5.00pm Tea Break (and preparation for Public lecture) Public Lecture (23 April, Thursday) by The Hon. Sundaresh Menon, Chief Justice of Singapore 5:00pm 6:30pm "Roadmaps for the Transnational Convergence of Commercial Law: Lessons learnt from the CISG" Chairperson: Ms Aurill Kam, Deputy Chief Counsel, Civil Division, Attorney General s Chambers. Synopsis: This lecture surveys the historical stages of the lex mercatoria and suggests that a new chapter waits to be written. It explores the interaction between international commercial law and prevailing power structures, and how this has been affected by the advent of globalisation. In a globalising world which is nonetheless rooted in Westphalian fundamentals, the continued convergence of commercial law will have to be balanced with domestic imperatives and cultural differences. The CISG, while already a landmark success in its own right, may yet provide the key insights needed to achieve this. Along with new internationalist institutions being set up in Asia, it may expect to be instrumental to the next iteration of lex mercatoria. Day 2 (24 April, Friday) UNCITRAL SINGAPORE SEMINAR 9:00am 9.30am Keynote Speech: The CISG as a Model for an International Contract Law. Introduction by Mr Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck, SC Speaker: Professor Yeo Tiong Min, SC honoris causa, Dean, Faculty of Law, Singapore Management University
9.30am 10.00am The CISG as a tool to improve market efficiency Moderator: (to be advised) Speaker: Dr Lisa Spagnolo, Faculty of Law, Monash University, Australia Q & A 10.00am 10.30am Tea Break 10.30am 12.00pm Panel Discussion: Moving forward the CISG Moderator: Professor Tan Cheng Han, SC, Chairman, Centre for Law and Business, National University of Singapore Professor Michael Bridge, Professor, National University of Singapore and London School of Economics (in absentia) Professor Howard Hunter, Past president, Singapore Management University A/Professor Gary Bell, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore Professor Angelo Chianale, University of Torino, Italy A/Professor Yang Fan, City University of Hong Kong Mr Renaud Sorieul, The Secretary of UNCITRAL 12.00pm 12.25pm Closing Remarks by Solicitor General Mr Lionel Yee Woon Chin, SC 12.30 pm End of Seminar 2.00pm 5.00pm LEGAL SINGAPORE LEARNING JOURNEYS (arranged by the Singapore Academy of Law) Visit to Supreme Court and briefing on Singapore Mediation Centre and Singapore International Commercial Court Visit to Maxwell Chambers, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and the Singapore international Mediation Centre. Visit to the State Courts