Beirut, Lebanon: on 16-20 April 2018, UNIDROIT is participating in the “Training Program for Specialist Working to Deter Cultural Property Theft and the Illicit Trafficking of Antiquities” organised by UNESCO and funded by UNESCO's Heritage Emergency Fund. 

The Training Program aims to counter antiquities trafficking in the Levant by providing a distilled version of signature professional skills programme for governmental and academic heritage decision makers who work in destabilized source countries where illicit antiquities originate.

From left to right: ARCA Chief Executive Officer, Ms Lynda Albertson, UNESCO Beirut's Programme Officer for Culture, Mr Joseph Kreidi, and UNESCO consultant, Prof. Samer Abdel Ghafour.

On 10 April 2018 Argentina’s instrument of accession to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and to the Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Aircraft Equipment was deposited with UNIDROIT. Argentina made declarations under Articles 39(1)(a), 39(1)(b), 39(4), 53 and 54(2) of the Convention, and under Articles XIX, XXX(1), XXX(2) and XXX(3) of the Aircraft Protocol. The Convention and the Aircraft Protocol will enter into force for Argentina on 1 August 2018. Further details about the Convention and the Aircraft Protocol are available at the "Depositary Functions of UNIDROIT (Cape Town Convention)" and "Depositary Function of UNIDROIT (Aircraft Protocol)" pages.

On 30 March 2018 Romania’s instrument of accession to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and to the Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Aircraft Equipment was deposited with UNIDROIT. Romania made declarations under Articles 39(1) and 54(2) of the Convention, and under Article XXX(1) of the Aircraft Protocol. The Convention and the Aircraft Protocol will enter into force for Romania on 1 July 2018. Further details about the Convention and the Aircraft Protocol are available at the "Depositary Functions of UNIDROIT (Cape Town Convention)" and "Depositary Function of UNIDROIT (Aircraft Protocol)" pages.

Between 13-15 April 2018 the Queen Mary – UNIDROIT Institute of Transnational Commercial Law, in association with the University of Oxford Harris Manchester College Commercial Law Centre, organised a conference entitled “Development Finance in Emerging Markets: Challenges, Innovations and Results”. On the first day of the conference, which was opened by Professors Roy Goode and Rosa Lastra, Secretary-General a.i. Anna Veneziano chaired a panel focusing on “the Importance of an Effective Legal Regime for Secured Transactions: The Cape Town Convention and its Protocols”, which featured presentations by Professor Ignacio Tirado (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, World Bank), Dr Marek Dubovec (NatLaw) and Ms Fréderique Dahan (EBRD). On the second day of the conference, Sir Roy Goode chaired a panel on “Intermediated Securities Versus Direct Holdings: The Benefits and Challenges of Book Entry Securities in EMDEs”. On this panel, Dr Thomas Kejiser (Radboud University Nijmegen) presented on the Geneva Securities Convention and the 2017 UNIDROIT Legislative Guide on Intermediated Securities among other presentations by Professor Luc Thévenoz (University of Geneva), Dr Maria Vermaas (Strate), Dr Timi Austen-Peters (Austen-Peters & Co) and Mr Guy Morton (formerly Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer). On the final day of the conference, UNIDROIT President Professor Alberto Mazzoni chaired a session on “Arbitration, Dispute Resolution, and Enforcing Judgements in emerging markets and developing countries: Recent developments”.

-> Click here for full agenda.

A plenary meeting of the Steering Committee, Co-Reporters and Members of Working Groups and Observers of the ELI-UNIDROIT project on civil procedure took place on 9 and 10 April at UNIDROIT in Rome. The meeting addressed the current working drafts on “Judgements”, “Parties”, and “Lis Pendens and Res Judicata”, as well as the progress of the Working Groups on “Costs” and “Appeals”. The overarching Working Group concerned with “Structure” also presented on the main issues and solutions for the Stucture of the Consolidated Draft.

The meeting constitutes the first joint event by the ELI and UNIDROIT this year and will be followed by two more public Project-related events in 2018. On 5–7 September 2018, the ELI Annual Conference in Riga (Latvia) will host a panel on the Project. Later, on 26–27 November, a public Conference will be held in Trier (Germany) in cooperation with the Academy of European Law (ERA), preceded by closed working sessions for participants in the Project.

The Romanian translation of the black-letter rules of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts 2016 is available on the UNIDROIT website. The translation of the full text of the volume, prepared by Dr. Radu Bogdan Bobei, member of the UNIDROIT Governing Council and Associate Professor, University of Bucharest Faculty of Law, will be published later in 2018.

On 23 March UNIDROIT partnered with the Mexican Ministry of the Economy and NatLaw to deliver a Workshop entitled “Modernizing the National Legal Framework to facilitate Access to Credit and Promote Economic Development” in Mexico City. During the Workshop, Governing Council member Professor Jorge Sánchez Cordero Dávila chaired a panel on the Cape Town Convention and its existing Protocols. Legal Officer William Brydie-Watson presented on both the Cape Town Convention and the MAC Protocol project while Dr Marek Dubovec, Executive Director of NatLaw presented on UNIDROIT’s Legislative Guide on Intermediated Securities.

-> Click here for the programme.

On 20-21 March, UNIDROIT participated in a two-day capacity-building conference on “Engaging the European art market in the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property” held at UNESCO HQ, Paris. The joint European Union (EU)-UNESCO project aims at reinforcing the exercise of due diligence conduct in the European art trade while sensitizing relevant stakeholders to the different implications of the unlawful trade regarding terrorism financing, organized crime and money laundering. 

After the conference, a knowledge-sharing online platform on the issue was created. This Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) comprise relevant information on how to engage in the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property – also focusing specifically on the role of due diligence. 

-> More information available here.

-> Programme

Shot of the podium		From left to right: Ms Marina Schneider, UNIDROIT Senior Legal Officer and Treaty Depositary, Dr. Rupert Keim, Managing Partner of Karl & Faber Art Auctions and Ms Rochelle Roca Hachem, Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO.