Rome, 15 September 2025 – UNIDROIT has officially launched a new edition of its flagship capacity-building initiative, the International Programme for Law and Development (IPLD) focusing on the Balkans, Eastern Partnership countries, Central Asia, and the Caucasus (BEPCAC), holding the official Opening Ceremony at its historic headquarters in Villa Aldobrandini.
Supported by the Directorate-General for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the programme builds on the success of four previous editions dedicated to Africa. It aims to promote the dissemination and practical application of UNIDROIT’s international legal instruments – global standards that advance the unification and harmonisation of private law – in regions with both a strong interest in UNIDROIT’s work and a pressing need to modernise, harmonise, and coordinate private and commercial law in response to rapid development and expanding international trade. By bringing together legal experts with diverse expertise and backgrounds from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Montenegro, Serbia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, IPLD BEPCAC will both equip participants with in-depth knowledge of UNIDROIT’s instruments and enrich the Organisation with their valuable perspectives.
In her welcome remarks, UNIDROIT Deputy Secretary-General Professor Anna Veneziano underlined that, although capacity-building is not at the core of UNIDROIT’s mandate, it remains of utmost importance for the Organisation. Through initiatives such as IPLD, UNIDROIT is able to disseminate knowledge, foster cooperation across jurisdictions, and support the effective implementation of its instruments. She remarked:
“We greatly value receiving feedback on practices in your countries and insights from legal experts with diverse backgrounds. This programme is about building a growing community of knowledge-sharing that contributes not only to the sustainable growth of the economies represented here, but also to advancing a global culture of open dialogue. I encourage you to be curious, to ask questions, and even to challenge what you hear, so that our time together becomes not just a series of lectures, but a true exchange leading to a deeper understanding of legal matters.”
Speaking on behalf of Hon. Edmondo Cirielli, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Counsellor Susanna Schlein, Head of the Unit for Strategies and Multilateral Global Processes for Development Cooperation, reaffirmed Italy’s commitment:
“The extension of the IPLD to these new regions clearly reflects Italy’s interest to those areas of the world, which hold an important place in our foreign policy agenda, and demonstrates our commitment to building long-lasting partnerships founded on knowledge-sharing and mutual growth.”
She further explained how the IPLD aligns with Italy’s wider strategy:
“Our support for this programme is part of a broader strategy: from Africa, with the Mattei Plan, to Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Italy is committed to promoting equal and sustainable partnerships based on the rule of law, education, and the empowerment of the human capital, in particular to the younger generations.”
Adding the host country’s perspective, Ms. Marina Schneider, Principal Legal Officer and Treaties Depositary at UNIDROIT, stressed how the Programme connects the Organisation’s normative work with its implementation:
“The strength of UNIDROIT lies not only in the texts we produce, but in the community of practice we foster together.” She explained: “I see daily how the effectiveness of our work depends not only on the quality of the instruments we prepare, but also on their acceptance, ratification, and practical implementation. This makes initiatives such as this Programme all the more significant, as they create the space for exchange that ultimately transforms treaties into living tools serving our societies.”
The opening ceremony brought together representatives of Rome-based diplomatic missions. Distinguished guests representing the target countries of the programme included H.E. Tamuna Liluashvili, Ambassador of Georgia, Mrs. Kh. Mandakhtsetseg, Chargée d’Affaires a.i. of Mongolia, Minister Counsellor Jelena Burzan, Chargée d’Affaires of Montenegro, and Mrs. Ivana Skočajić, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Serbia to the UN Agencies in Rome.
Following the ceremony, participants joined the first seminar led by Professor Veneziano, and will spend the next two weeks in Rome working on pressing legal challenges – from contract law and international finance to cultural property, technology, and sustainable development.
With this new edition, IPLD not only strengthens technical expertise but also builds a lasting professional network across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, reinforcing legal cooperation and dialogue for years to come.
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.