The 10th Annual Cape Town Convention Academic Project Conference took place at Robinson College, University of Cambridge, and on Zoom on 29-30 September 2021. The Conference was organised by the Cape Town Convention Academic Project, which a partnership between UNIDROIT and the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, under the auspices of the Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law (3CL). The Aviation Working Group is the founding sponsor of the project.
The Conference had 173 registered participants, 60 of which attended in person, with the rest participating via Zoom. The first day of the Conference featured commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (the ‘Cape Town Convention’ or ‘CTC’) and its Protocol related to Aircraft Equipment (the ‘Aircraft Protocol’ or ‘AP’). This included a welcome address by the President of UNIDROIT, Professor Maria Chiara Malaguti, and a Keynote Address by Professor Sir Roy Goode.
This was followed by an examination of ‘The Impact of the CTC in a post-pandemic world’ by the Secretary-General of UNIDROIT, Professor Ignacio Tirado. Thereafter, Professor Louise Gullifer and Dr Anton Didenko welcomed input from the attendees on areas of possible future research relating to the CTC which could be conducted under the auspices of the Academic Project.
Day 1 also featured a discussion on the CTC and Environmental, Social and Governance issues, which looked at green financing under the Cape Town Convention. This included an address from Dr Ben Caldecott (University of Oxford) and comments from Professor Jeffrey Wool (AWG, University of Oxford). The day was concluded by a Panel Discussion chaired by Professor Oren Sussman (University of Oxford) examining ‘The Impact of the CTC: an assessment after 20 years’. This included examination of the economic perspective by Daniel C. da Silva (Boeing Capital), Professor Vadim Linetsky (Northwestern University), Professor Julian Franks (London Business School), and Professor Jeffrey Wool (AWG; University of Oxford; and an examination of the legal perspective by Professor Anna Veneziano (Deputy Secretary-General of UNIDROIT).
Day 2 of the Conference was started with a Panel Discussion on ‘Schemes of arrangements and ‘insolvency proceedings’ in Art 1(l) CTC’ Chaired by Professor Louise Gullifer (University of Cambridge). This featured remarks from Professor Riz Mokal (South Square Chambers, UCL), Dr Felix Steffek (University of Cambridge), Kenneth Gray (Norton Rose Fulbright), and Philip Hertz (Clifford Chance).
This was followed by a discussion on ‘The significance in cross-border insolvency of AP Art XXX(4) (and equivalent article in the other Protocols)’ Chaired by Professor Ignacio Tirado (UNIDROIT) with a presentation by Professor Irit Mevorach (University of Nottingham), and comments from Professor Jeffrey Wool (AWG; University of Oxford) and Dr Kristin Van Zwieten (University of Oxford).
The final session featured a discussion on ‘The meaning of ‘give possession’ in Art XI Alt A (2) (AP and equivalent provisions in other protocols)’ led by Professor David Brown (University of Adelaide), with comments from John Canning (KWM); and a discussion on ‘The scope and application in insolvency proceedings of Art XI Alt A (10) (AP and equivalent provisions in other protocols) with a presentation by William Piels (Holland & Knight) and comments from William Glaister (Clifford Chance).
Registered participants can access all the Conference material at: https://ctcap.org/conference-participants-panel/. Learn more about the Cape Town Convention Academic Project and its activities at: www.ctcap.org.
Professor Iacopo Donati is the UNIDROIT/Bank of Italy Chair Holder and is mainly responsible for assisting in the Bank Insolvency project. He is Professor of Corporate and Insolvency Law at the University of Siena, and coordinates the research project ‘Pro.Re.Ba.’ (Proportionating rules on bank crisis prevention and management to the case of retail banks), which has received funding from the Italian Ministry of University. He has previously taught corporate law at the University of Venice ‘Ca’ Foscari’, at the University of Florence and at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’.
rtered Institute of Arbitrators (London). He further holds a post-graduate diploma in law from the Kenya School of Law. Allan is also a scholar from the Hague Academy of International Law.
rofessor Ignacio Tirado was appointed Secretary-General by the Governing Council at its 97th session, and officially took office on 27 August 2018. A national of Spain, Professor Tirado (Commercial, Corporate and Insolvency Law, Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, Spain) holds a PhD from the Universities of Bologna and Autónoma de Madrid and an LLM from the University of London. Professor Tirado has been a Senior Legal Consultant at the World Bank’s Legal Vice-Presidency and Financial Sector Practice for more than nine years, having also consulted for the IMF on insolvency related matters as well as for the Asian Development Bank on commercial legal reform.
A Swedish national, Ms Lena Peters grew up in Italy where she attended an English school. In 1978 she took her Juris Kandidatexamen at Stockholm University followed by a Master of Laws from King’s College, London (1979). Since 1985 she has been with UNIDROIT, first as Research Officer, lastly as Principal Legal Officer, her main duties being Secretary to the Working Group for the Preparation of Principles of International Commercial Contracts, Secretary to the Study Group on Franchising, Secretary to the Committee of Governmental Experts on Franchising.She also collaborated on the project for the preparation of the ELI-Unidroit Model European Rules of Civil Procedure. She is currently Managing Editor of the Uniform Law Review and responsible for publications at UNIDROIT.
Marina Schneider is Principal Legal Officer and Treaty Depositary at UNIDROIT. She studied law at the University of Strasbourg (France) and Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne. She joined the UNIDROIT in 1987 and was involved in the elaboration and French versions of most UNIDROIT instruments since. She is in charge of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects and of the UNESCO-UNIDROIT Model Provisions on State Ownership of Undiscovered Cultural Objects. She is the author of the Explanatory Report of the 1995 Convention and many articles on the Convention and other international instruments in the field. Ms Schneider is also responsible for the project on private collections and for the UNIDROIT Convention Academic Project (UCAP). She is member of the Board of the International Society for Research on Art and Cultural Heritage Law (ISCHAL).
Professor of Commercial Law, Carlos III University of Madrid. Currently, Sir Roy Goode Scholar at UNIDROIT, Rome, 2021-2022. Chair of Excellence 2017-2018 at University of Oxford (Uc3m- Santander Program), affiliated to Harris Manchester College. Previously Distinguished Visiting Professor and fellow of a number of Academic Institutions. Arbitrator of Madrid Court of Arbitration. Member of ELI (European Law Institute) Council and Executive Committee. Member of the Expert Group of the European Commission on Liability and New Technologies and member of the Expert Group of the European Observatory of Platform Economy; the International Academy of Commercial and Consumer Law; the expert group of the Inclusive Global Legal Innovation Platform for Online Dispute Resolution – UNCITRAL and Hong Kong Department of Justice. Expert of the UNIDROIT Study Group on the MAC Protocol of the Cape Town Convention on International Interests. Delegate of Spain to UNIDROIT for the adoption of the Protocol, delegate of Spain in Working Group VI of UNCITRAL on secured transactions and in Working Group IV on Electronic Commerce. Member of UNIDROIT Working Groups on Enforcement and Warehouse Receipts.
William Brydie-Watson is an Australian lawyer who specialises in secured transactions law and private international law. Before joining UNIDROIT, William was a government lawyer in the Private International Law and International Arbitration section of the Australian Attorney-General’s Department, where he worked primarily on treaty negotiation and the implementation of private international law treaties in Australia. At UNIDROIT, he is primarily responsible for the implementation of the Mining, Agriculture and Construction (MAC Protocol) to the 2001 Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the development of a Model Law on Factoring. William also serves as UNIDROIT’s liaison with the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and as manager of the Institute’s Scholarship and Internship Programme. Admitted to practice in New South Wales and the High Court of Australia, he has a Bachelor of Arts (honours), a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws from the Australian National University. William also lectures on International Secured Transactions Law at the Eotvos Lorand Faculty of Law in Budapest.