1. No category

Mochtar Riady Auditorium
Singapore Management University 2015 marks the 35th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International
Sale of Goods (CISG). The CISG is a treaty that provides for a uniform law to govern international
sales contracts. It has been ratified by 83 states which together account for a very significant
proportion of world trade. It is one of the most successful international uniform laws.
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) which formulated the
CISG has decided to commemorate this anniversary with a series of events aimed at taking stock of
the current status of the CISG and of possible future developments relating to the CISG in the field of
contract law.
Singapore adopted the CISG in 1995 and is the only State party to the CISG in South East Asia.
However, there is not much information on the use of the CISG in Singapore and local precedents on
its application remain scarce. On the other hand, in other East Asian States the CISG is used regularly
not only as a treaty applicable to contracts for the international sale of goods but also as a model for
national law reform.
The UNCITRAL Secretariat, including the UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, has
partnered with the Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore, the Singapore Ministry of Law, the
Singapore Academy of Law, the Singapore Management University (SMU) and the National
University of Singapore (NUS) to organise a two-day event addressing a number of aspects of the use
of CISG at the national, regional and global level. The focus will be on trends in the use of the CISG
in legal practice in Singapore and in other Asian States as well as the possible contribution of the
CISG to the future of contract law. Particular attention will be given to the role of the CISG in
promoting regional trade and supporting economic integration in South East and East Asia.
The Keynote Address for this seminar will be delivered by the Attorney-General of Singapore, the
Hon. V K Rajah, SC. Other speakers and panellists are drawn from overseas and Singapore experts on
the CISG and international contract law. They include Prof Yeo Tiong Min, SC, Dean of the School
of Law of SMU; Mr Renaud Sorieul, The Secretary of UNCITRAL; Mr Luca Castellani, Legal
Officer, UNCITRAL, Vienna; Prof Mo Shijian, Dean of the University of Macau Law School,
People’s Republic of China; Prof Michael Bridge, Professor, NUS Faculty of Law and London School
of Economics; Prof Emeritus Takashi Ushida, Ministry of Justice, Japan; Mr Chan Leng Sun, SC,
President of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators; Mr Toh Kian Sing, SC, Senior Partner, Rajah &
Tann Siingapore LL
LP; Mr Joao
o Ribeiro, D
Director, UNC
CITRAL Reegional Centtre for Asiaa and the
Pacific; Professor Hsu
H Lockniee (SMU), A
ASEAN Law
w Associatio
on; Professoor Angelo Chianale,
C
h University, Australia; A/Prof Gary
y Bell of
Universiity of Torino, Italy; Dr Lisa Spagnoolo, Monash
NUS and Asst Prof Gary Low of SMU; Mr C
Charles Lim
m, Parliamentary Counsel (Special Pro
ojects) of
o Singapore and Mr Soh
h Kee Bun, Senior Statee Counsel, AttorneyA
Attorneyy-General’s Chambers of
General’s Chamberss of Singaporre.
will be a Publlic Lecture in
n conjunctioon with this seminar
s
whicch will be deelivered by the
t Chief
There w
Justice of Singaporre, The Hon
n. Mr Sunddaresh Meno
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“Roadm
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T
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C
Organiseed by
23-24 April 2015
Mochtar Riady Auditorium
Singapore Management University
PROGRAMME
Day 1 (23 April, Thursday) UNCITRAL – SINGAPORE
SEMINAR
8:30am
Registration
9:00am
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, Singapore
9.20am 9.45am
Keynote Address
Introduction by Mr Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck, SC
Address by Mr V K Rajah, SC
Attorney-General 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, AttorneyGeneral’s Chambers, Singapore
Speaker: Mr Luca Castellani, Legal Officer, UNCITRAL
Q&A
10.15am 10.45am
10.45am11.30am
Tea Break
“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
Speakers:
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
11.30am12.30pm
Panel Discussion: “Working the CISG”
Moderator: Mr Lawrence Boo, Head of Chambers, The Arbitration Chambers
(Singapore)
Speakers:
Practical application of the CISG :
Mr Toh Kian Sing, SC, Senior Partner, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
Unresolved legal issues in the CISG:
Asst Prof Gary Low, School of Law, Singapore Management University
International Commercial Arbitration and the CISG:
Mr Chan Leng Sun, SC, President, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators
Q&A
12.30pm2.00pm
2.00pm2.45pm
Lunch Break
“CISG in the Asia-Pacific Region”
Moderator: Prof David N Smith, Professor of Law (Practice), Singapore
Management University.
Speakers:
Professor Shijian Mo, Dean, University of Macau, Faculty of Law, People’s
Republic of China
Professor Takashi Uchida, Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo, Parttime Senior Advisor on Legislative Reform, the Ministry of Justice of Japan
Q&A
2.45pm3.15pm
“Regional efforts at the harmonization of commercial laws”
Moderator: Mr Leong Kwang Ian, Director, Legal Policy Division, 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, Singapore
Q&A
3.15pm4.15pm
Panel Discussion: “CISG: Progress and Issues in implementation”
Moderator: Mr Joao Ribeiro, Head, UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and
the Pacific (RCAP)

Brunei
Dr Colin Ong, Dr Colin Ong Legal Services

Indonesia
Professor Juwana Hikmahanto, Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia

Lao PDR
Mr Santisouk Phounesavath, Ministry of Trade, Lao PDR

Philippines
Ms Rosario Elena A. Laborte-Cuevas, Senior State Counsel, Department
of Justice

Sri Lanka
Mrs M N B Fernando, Additional Solicitor-General, Attorney-General’s
Department

Thailand
Mrs M Vilawan, Deputy Director-General of Treaties and Legal Affairs,
Ministry of Justice, Thailand
Tea Break
(and preparation for Public lecture)
4.15pm –
5.00pm
Public Lecture (23 April, Thursday)
By The Hon. Sundaresh Menon, Chief Justice of Singaproe
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, AttorneyGeneral’s Chambers, Singapore
Programme:




Introduction by Chairperson
Address by The Hon. Sundaresh Menon, Chief Justice of Singapore
Q&A
Vote of Thanks by Mr Renaud Sorieul, the Secretary of UNCITRAL
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
9:00am9.30am
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, School of Law, Singapore
Management University
9.30am10.00am
“The CISG as a tool to improve market efficiency”
Moderator: Mrs Lee Suet Fern, Senate Member and Chair of the Legal Education
& Studies Group , Singapore Academy of Law
Speaker: Dr Lisa Spagnolo, Faculty of Law, Monash University, Australia
Q&A
10.00am10.30am
Tea Break
10.30am Panel Discussion: “Moving forward the CISG”
-12.00pm
Moderator: Professor Tan Cheng Han, SC, Chairman, Centre for Law and
Business, National University of Singapore
Speakers:
Professor Michael Bridge, Professor, National University of Singapore and
London School of Economics (in absentia)
Professor Howard Hunter, Past president, Singapore Management University
A/Prof Gary Bell, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore
Professor Angelo Chianale, University of Torino, Italy
A/Prof Yang Fan, City University of Hong Kong
Mr Renaud Sorieul, The Secretary of UNCITRAL
Q&A
12.00pm12.25pm 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
Tea hosted by the Singapore Academy of Law
Visit to Maxwell Chambers, the Singapore International
Arbitration Centre and the Singapore International Mediation
Centre.
The Conference Papers are available for download at http://law.smu.edu.sg/35YRSCISG/042015, and
will be made available as and when they are received.
Speakers' Profile
Attorney-General V K RAJAH, SC
Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore
V K Rajah, SC, Attorney-General, graduated from the National University of
Singapore in 1982 and obtained his Masters of Law (First Class) from the
University of Cambridge in 1986. He was admitted as an Advocate and
Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 1983 and commenced legal
practice with Rajah & Tann that same year. He was Managing Partner of
Rajah & Tann from 1986 to 2003, which at the point of his departure the
second largest law firm in Singapore. In January 1997, he was appointed
Senior Counsel. Mr Rajah was appointed Judicial Commissioner of the
Supreme Court on 2 January 2004, and was subsequently appointed Supreme
Court Judge on 1 November 2004. He was elevated to Judge of Appeal on 11
April 2007.
Mr Rajah assumed office as the Attorney-General of the Republic of
Singapore on 25 June 2014. In 2014 he was appointed an Honorary Bencher
of Middle Temple.
Renaud SORIEUL
Secretary, UNCITRAL
Renaud Sorieul is the Director of the International Trade Law Division
(ITLD) of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, which functions as the
substantive secretariat for the United Nations Commission on International
Trade Law (UNCITRAL). He is the eighth Secretary of UNCITRAL since
the Commission was established by the General Assembly in 1966. He took
up his duties on 1 October 2008.Since he joined the UNCITRAL secretariat
in 1989, he was actively involved in the UNCITRAL Working Group on
International Payments, which prepared the UNCITRAL Model Law on
International Credit Transfers. He then served as Secretary of the
UNCITRAL Working Group on Electronic Commerce, which drafted the
UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce and the UNCITRAL
Model Law on Electronic Signatures. Since 2002, he was the Secretary of
the UNCITRAL Working Group on Arbitration and Conciliation. Since
2005, he was also the Principal Legal Officer, Head of the Legislative Branch
of the International Trade Law Division, in charge of supervising the
Secretariat support to the standard-making activities of UNCITRAL.
A French national, Mr. Sorieul holds degrees in private law from the
University of Paris (Paris II). He is also a graduate of the Institut d’études
politiques de Paris and the École Nationale de la Magistrature. A member of
the French judiciary since 1981, he served as a magistrate in first-degree law
courts (1981-1985), and was subsequently appointed a member of the
International Criminal Law Division at the Ministry of Justice (1985-1987).
He was then seconded to serve as Head of the Legal Office of the
Directorate-General of Energy and Mines, at the Ministry of Industry (19871989).
Professor YEO Tiong Min, SC (honoris causa)
Dean, School of Law, Singapore Management University
Professor Yeo Tiong Min SC (honoris causa) graduated from the National
University of Singapore with an LLB and worked there for 17 years. He
obtained his post-graduate degrees (BCL and DPhil) from the University of
Oxford, where he was a Senior Research Fellow for a time. He was appointed
as the first Yong Pung How Professor of Law at the Singapore Management
University in 2007. His research interests are mainly in private law, with a
large concentration on private international law, and include contract law, the
law of restitution, equity and remedies. His published works have been
widely cited in many jurisdictions by academics and courts. He was
conferred the Singapore Law Merit Award by the Singapore Academy of
Law in 2008 for his contributions to the development of Singapore law. He
was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2011 for his services to the
Singapore Academy of Law. He is a board member and Professorial Fellow
of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education. In 2012, he became the first
person in Singapore to be appointed Senior Counsel (honoris causa) for
outstanding contributions to the development of the law and the legal
profession in Singapore.
Ms THIAN Yee Sze
Director-General, Legal Group, Ministry of Law, Singapore
Thian Yee Sze is the Director-General of the Legal Group at the Ministry of
Law, and is in charge of both domestic and international legal policy, as well
as law reform, steering substantive reform and policy formulation in criminal,
civil and family law. She also oversees the policy on international civil and
criminal cooperation at the Ministry. She joined the Singapore Legal Service
as a Justice’s Law Clerk and later served as a Senior Assistant Registrar in
the Supreme Court. She was appointed a District Judge in 2005, and presided
over numerous civil and criminal trials. In addition to her judicial duties, she
was the Chief Information Officer and the Senior Director of the Strategic
Planning and Training Division at the State Courts of Singapore. She also
held positions as the President of the Copyright Tribunal and the Chairman of
the Goods and Services Tax Board of Review.
Ms Thian graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) from
King’s College, University of London.
Deputy Solicitor-General Jeffrey CHAN Wah Teck, SC
Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore
Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck, SC, Deputy Solicitor-General, read law at the
University of Singapore on a President’s Scholarship and graduated in 1973
as the Gold Medallist of his class. He subsequently obtained an LL.M from
Harvard University, USA, and completed his Advance Management
Programme at Wharton Business School. He has held a variety of
appointments in the Singapore Legal Service including Assistant Registrar of
the Supreme Court; Director, Legal Services of the Ministry of Defence, and
Head of the Civil Division and after that, the International Affairs Division of
the Attorney-General’s Chambers. He was the first Chief of Staff of the
Singapore Legal Service. His practice covers a wide range of legal interests
including UNCITRAL. He was the Chairman of UNCITRAL in 2000 and
chaired the UNCITRAL Working Group on Electronic Commerce between
2002 and 2005. He is presently Chairman of the UNCITRAL Working Group
on Online Dispute Resolution. He also chairs the ASEAN Senior Law
Officials Meeting’s Working Group on the Harmonisation of the Trade Laws
of ASEAN Member States. He speaks regularly in Singapore and abroad on a
wide range of legal subjects.
Mr Luca CASTELLANI
UNCITRAL
Luca Castellani is a legal officer at the Secretariat UNCITRAL in Vienna,
Austria. He was the first head of the UNCITRAL Regional Center for Asia
and the Pacific, located in Incheon, Republic of Korea and has held
appointments in United Nations Secretariat in New York and Addis Ababa.
He is presently Secretary of UNCITRAL Working Group IV (Electronic
Commerce) and has published in the fields of international trade law and
comparative law, dealing, in particular, with sale of goods, electronic
commerce and trade law reform.
Mr Charles LIM Aeng Cheng
Parliamentary Counsel (Special Projects) and Chief Knowledge Officer,
Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore
Charles Lim Aeng Cheng, Parliamentary Counsel (Special Projects) and
Chief Knowledge Officer of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Singapore,
read law at the University of Cambridge and completed the Executive
Graduate Programme at Stanford University School of Business. He was
formerly head of the legislative drafting and law reform divisions and is
currently a Law Reform Commissioner. In 1994, he chaired the SubCommittee on Commercial Law of the Law Reform Committee (Singapore
Academy of Law) which recommended Singapore’s ratification of the CISG.
He has served on various national advisory committees on new media and
bioethics and published numerous books and articles on a wide range of legal
subjects.
Professor Howard HUNTER
Former President, Singapore Management University
PROFESSOR HOWARD HUNTER is the former President of Singapore
Management University, and Professor of Law Emeritus, Emory University.
He completed both his undergraduate and his professional education at Yale
University and practiced law in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.
Thereafter he taught at the Emory University School of Law where he was
also the Dean. He has been visiting professor of law at the Central European
University in Budapest, Hong Kong University, Sydney University, the
University of Virginia, and the College of William & Mary. From 1991-1997
he was co-Director of the American Law Center in Moscow with the late
Professor Harold Berman. He is the author of Modern Law of Contracts,
annually updated since originally published in 1986, as well as many
professional articles on contract law, sales, competition law, and American
constitutional law. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Editors of the
Journal of Contract Law and the Board of the American Arbitration
Association. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute. He has
been teaching the CISG for more than 10 years to law students in Budapest,
Sydney, Singapore and the USA.
Mr SOH Kee Bun
Senior State Counsel, Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore
Soh Kee Bun, Senior State Counsel, Attorney-General’s Chambers,
Singapore graduated from the National University of Singapore and the
University of Oxford. Previously, he was the Vice-Dean of the NUS Law
Faculty. He has also held appointments as Senior Legal Adviser, Director
(Legal Policy) and Director (Alternative Dispute Resolution) in the Ministry
of Law, where he was involved in policy making. His present and past work
in the Attorney-General’s Chambers include legal advisory, law reform and
legislative drafting. He was the Head of the Singapore Delegation to an
UNCITRAL Commission Session and has published widely in various law
journals.
Professor John MO Shijian
Dean of Faculty of Law, University of Macau
Professor John Mo Shijian is the Dean of Faculty of Law, University of
Macau. He was previously Dean of Faculty of International Law, China
University of Political Science and Law. He is a member of numerous
international bodies engaged in private law including the International
Academy of Comparative Law; Governing Council of UNIDROIT (20092013); Member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration; and
the London Court of International Arbitration. He is Vice-President of China
Society for International Economic Law; Vice President of China Association
for the Study of International Trade and Economic Law. He is a barrister of
the states of Queensland and Victoria, Australia, and also practices as an
arbitrator.
Professor Emeritus Takashi UCHIDA
University of Tokyo
Takashi Uchida is Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo. He
graduated from that University in 1976 and was a Law Professor there until
2007. He was a Japanese delegate to the UNCITRAL Working Group on
Electronic Commerce. He served as the Senior Advisor on Legislative
Reform in the Ministry of Justice for seven years, focusing on the law of
obligations. His current main research interest is in the historical background
of “legal reception” in Japan in the late nineteenth century. He continues to
make practical contribution in the legal profession as Special Counsel at a
leading Japanese law firm.
Mr TOH Kian Sing, SC
Senior Partner & Head of the Shipping & International Trade Practice Group, Rajah & Tann
Singapore LLP
Toh Kian Sing, SC, is a Senior Partner and Head of the Shipping and
International Trade Practice Group of Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP. He
graduated from the National University of Singapore and the University of
Oxford and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2007. He handles a variety of
contentious shipping work, including charter party, bills of lading, ship sale
and shipbuilding disputes. Kian Sing also regularly accepts appointment as
arbitrator. Proficient in Chinese, he is also a Visiting Professor at the Dalian
Maritime University, having previously lectured at the Law Faculty of the
National University of Singapore.
Mr CHAN Leng Sun, SC
President, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators
Chan Leng Sun, SC, is President of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators
(SIArb) and was Chairman of the Singapore Law Society ADR Committee.
He is qualified to practice in Singapore, Malaysia and the United Kingdom
and heads the Dispute Resolution practice in Baker & McKenzie Wong &
Leow. He was appointed also on the panel of leading arbitral institutions.
Leng Sun has taught at the law schools of the National University of
Singapore and the Singapore Management University and participated in the
UNCITRAL Working Group on Arbitration. He has published widely in
international journals and is the author of the book Singapore Law on
Arbitral Awards and Co-Editor of Conflict of Laws in Arbitration.
Cassel Professor Michael BRIDGE
London School of Economics & National University of Singapore
Michael Bridge is the Cassel Professor of Commercial Law at the London
School of Economics and Professor of Law at the National University of
Singapore. Previously, he was Dean of Laws and Professor of Commercial
law at UCL and, before that, Hind Professor of Commercial law at the
University of Nottingham and Professor of Law at McGill University,
Montreal. In addition, he has held visiting appointments at a number of
universities in the United States, the Far East, and Australia and New
Zealand. He is a Bencher of the Middle Temple and a door tenant at 20 Essex
Street Chambers, and is also a Fellow of the British Academy. He is a
member of the CISG Advisory Council and has been a participant in a
number of other international uniform law projects. He is the general editor
of Benjamin’s Sale of Goods and the author or co-author of several books on
personal property law, credit and security, private international law and sale
of goods.
Professor Locknie HSU
Singapore Management University
Locknie Hsu is presently the Chairperson of the ASEAN Law Association’s
Trade and Investment Group. She read law at the National University of
Singapore and Harvard University, USA, and is currently a full Professor in
the Singapore Management University Law School where she teaches Trade
and Investment Law and Contract Law. Previously she was in private
practice and was also a Consultant for the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
She was a member of the Singapore Delegations to various FTA negotiations.
Associate Professor Gary BELL
National University of Singapore
Gary Bell is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of the Law National
University of Singapore. He obtained degrees in both the common law (LLB)
and the civil law (BCL.) at McGill University in Montreal and an LLM at
Columbia University in New York City. He was Editor in Chief of the
McGill Law Journal, clerked for Justice Stevenson of the Supreme Court of
Canada and taught at McGill University. He teaches in comparative law
(Comparative Legal Traditions, International and Comparative Law of Sale,
Indonesian Law). He does most of his research on Indonesian law and on the
United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
Assistant Professor Gary LOW
Singapore Management University
Gary Low is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law of the Singapore
Management University. He read law at the London School of Economics
and was a Justices’ Law Clerk of the Supreme Court of Singapore. He then
practiced shipping law and commercial litigation and arbitration at a large
Singapore law firm. Between 2008 and 2010, he was associated with the
Tilburg Institute for Comparative and Transnational Law in the Netherlands
and also a Visiting Scholar at Cornell Law School. Prior to joining SMU Law
School in mid-2013, he taught commercial law-related subjects and the
common law at the Maastricht Faculty of Law. His research interests are in
European private law, behavioural law and economics, and neurolaw. His
publications have appeared in the likes of the European Business Law
Review.
Dr YANG Fan
City University of Hong Kong
Dr YANG Fan is an Assistant Professor in the City University of Hong
Kong. She read law in Shanghai and obtained her LL.M in the UK. She was
called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2005. She is a Fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb), a Fellow of the Higher Education
Academy (FHEA), the International Council for Commercial Arbitration
(ICCA). She is also a member of the International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC) Hong Kong Arbitration Committee and Trade Facilitation Committee,
the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), and an Elected
Committee Member of the CIArb East Asia Brach. She is the Liaison of the
Hong Kong Drafting Team for a Model Law on Contracts for the Greater
China Region as well as a member of the Standing Committee of the China
Academy of Arbitration Law.
Ms Lisa SPAGNOLO
Senior Lecturer, Monash University
Lisa Spagnolo is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Monash University,
Australia. She graduated from Deakin University and practiced in a large law
firm in the area of insolvency and banking law. She presently lectures in
contract and property law and has authored numerous books and articles on
these subjects. Her special interest is in the CISG. She is a Fellow of the
Institute of International Commercial Law, Pace University, New York and a
rapporteur for the CISG Advisory Council.
Professor Angelo CHINALE
University of Turin Law School
Angelo Chinale is Professor of Private Law at the University of Turin Law
School. He read law at the International Faculty of Comparative Law,
Strasbourg (France) and the University of Turin. Previously he has taught at
the universities of Bocconi, Milan, Turin and Trento. His academic writings
comprise books and articles on property law, on transfer of property, on tort
law, and on mortgages in Italian and comparative law.
Mr Joao RIBEIRO
Director, UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific
Joao Ribeiro is the Head of the UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the
Pacific in Song-do, Republic of Korea. He holds a Law Degree from the
University of Coimbra and a LLM from the Universities of Coimbra and
Macau. A Portuguese national he was, among other appointments, Head of
International Affairs of the Ministry of Justice of Portugal and Deputy
Secretary General of the Conferences of Ministers of Justice of the IberianAmerican countries and of the Portuguese Speaking countries. Additionally,
he was legal adviser to the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the
Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region and a senior
lecturer at the Faculties of Law, Management and of Social and Human
Sciences of the University of Macau where he taught International Law,
International Business Law, Business Law, Economic Integration Law,
Constitutional Law and Chinese Political System.
Public Lecture- 23 April
PUBLIC LECTURE (5.00pm-6.30pm)
The Hon. Sundaresh MENON
Chief Justice of Singapore
Roadmaps for the Transnational Convergence of Commercial Law: Lessons learnt from the CISG
The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon graduated with Bachelor
of Laws (First Class Honours) from the National University of Singapore in
1986 and later obtained a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School
in 1991. He was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court
of Singapore in 1987 and appointed Senior Counsel in January 2008. From
April 2006 to March 2007, Mr Menon served as a Judicial Commissioner of
the Supreme Court and presided over several prominent criminal and civil
cases in the High Court. He returned to Rajah & Tann LLP after his term at
the bench, becoming its Managing Partner in August 2009. Mr Menon served
as the Attorney-General from 1 October 2010 to 24 June 2012. As AttorneyGeneral, he oversaw the implementation of the Criminal Procedure Code
2010, which made significant changes to the criminal process in Singapore.
Mr Menon was appointed a Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court on 1
August 2012, and the Chief Justice of Singapore on 6 November 2012.
CHA
AIRPERSO
ONS AND MODERA
ATORS
Session:
“35 yeaars of the CISG:
C
An
overvieew of the CISG, its
formulation and its
i progresss
past 35 yearrs”
in the p
Chairperso
C
on/Moderat
ator
Mr
M Chong Kah
K Wei
Deputy
D
Senior State Coounsel, AttorrneyGeneral’s
G
Chambers,
C
SSingapore
Mr
M Goh Pha
ai Cheng, SSC
“Singap
pore and th
he CISG”
Former
F
Judiicial Comm
missioner of the
High
H
Court of Singaporre and a forrmer
Chairman
C
off UNCITRA
AL
“Work
king the CIS
SG”
Mr Lawren
nce Boo
Head of Ch
hambers, Thhe Arbitratio
on
Chambers (Singapore))
“CISG in the Asiaa-Pacific
Region
n”
Mr David N Smith
Professor of
o Law (Praactice),
Singapore Managemen
M
nt Universitty.
“Regional Effortss at the
harmon
nization off commercia
al
laws”
Mr Leong Kwang
K
Iann
“CISG: Progress and Issues in
Implem
mentation”
Mr Joao Ribeiro
Director, Legal
L
Policyy Division, Ministry
M
of Law, Sin
ngapore Head, UNC
CITRAL Reggional Centtre for
Asia and th
he Pacific (R
RCAP) PUBLIIC LECTU
URE:
“Roadm
maps for th
he
Transn
national Coonvergence of
Commeercial Law: Lessons
learnt ffrom the CISG”
“The C
CISG as a toool to
improvve market efficiency”
e
Ms Aurilll Kam
Deputy Ch
hief Counseel, Civil Divvision,
Attorney-G
General’s C
Chambers,
Singaporee
Mrs Lee Su
uet Fern
Senate Mem
mber and C
Chair of the Legal
Education & Studies G
Group,
Singapore Academy of Law
Panel D
Discussion: “Moving
forward the CISG
G”
Prof Tan Cheng
C
Hann
Chairman, Centre for Law and
Business, National
N
Unniversity of
Singapore
About the Organisers
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is the core legal body of
the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. It was established by the General
Assembly in 1966 with the mandate to remove legal obstacles to international trade by progressively
modernizing and harmonizing trade law. In establishing UNCITRAL, the General Assembly
recognized that disparities in national laws governing international trade created obstacles to the flow
of trade and it regarded the preparation of uniform texts by UNCITRAL as a vehicle to reduce or
remove these obstacles. UNCITRAL prepares legal texts in a number of key areas such as
international commercial dispute settlement, electronic commerce, insolvency, international
payments, sale of goods, transport law, procurement and infrastructure development. UNCITRAL
also provides technical assistance to law reform activities, including assisting Member States to
review and assess their law reform needs and to draft the legislation required to implement
UNCITRAL texts. The UNCITRAL Secretariat is located in Vienna, Austria.
http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en
UNCITRAL - Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific
The Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RCAP), located in Incheon, Republic of Korea, was
established in January 2012 as the first regional centre of UNCITRAL. The main objectives of the
Regional Centre are to (a) enhance international trade and development in the Asia-Pacific region by
promoting certainty in international commercial transactions through the dissemination of
international trade norms and standards, in particular those elaborated by UNCITRAL; (b) provide
bilateral and multilateral technical assistance to States with respect to the adoption and uniform
interpretation of UNCITRAL texts through workshops and seminars; (c) engage in coordination
activities with international and regional organizations active in trade law reform projects in the
region; and (d) function as a channel of communication between States in the region and UNCITRAL.
http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/tac/rcap.html
Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore
The Attorney-General’s Chambers is a vital component of Singapore legal system. As principal legal
advisor to the government, the Attorney-General plays an important role in upholding the Rule of
Law in Singapore, and thus contributes to one of the key aspirations of her people: to build a
democratic society based on the fundamental ideals of justice and equality.
The AGC’s mission is to serve Singapore’s interests and uphold the rule of law through sound advice,
effective representation, fair and independent prosecution and accessible legislation.
The Attorney-General performs a critical constitutional role in Singapore and the administration of
justice. As the Public Prosecutor, he exercises overall control over and provides direction in all
criminal proceedings independently of Government. In addition, he is also Government’s principal
legal advisor and the guardian of public interest.
There are five legal divisions in the Attorney-General’s Chambers, namely, the Criminal Justice
Division, the Financial and Technology Crime Division, the International Affairs Division, the Civil
Division and the Legislation Division.
http://www.agc.gov.sg/
Singapore Management University
A premier university in Asia, the Singapore Management University (SMU) is internationally
recognised for its world class research and distinguished teaching. Established in 2000, SMU’s
mission is to generate leading edge research with global impact and produce broad-based, creative and
entrepreneurial leaders for the knowledge-based economy. It is known for its interactive and
technologically-enabled pedagogy of seminar-style teaching in small class sizes.
Home to about 8,000 students, SMU comprises six schools: School of Accountancy, Lee Kong Chian
School of Business, School of Economics, School of Information Systems, School of Law and School
of Social Sciences, offering a wide range of bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degree programmes in
various disciplines.
With an emphasis on generating rigorous, high impact cross-disciplinary research that addresses
Asian issues of global relevance, SMU faculty collaborates with leading foreign researchers as well as
partners in the business community and public sector through its research institutes and centres.
http://www.smu.edu.sg
Ministry of Law of Singapore
The Ministry of Law seeks to advance access to justice and the rule of law in Singapore. Through its
formulation and review of domestic policies and legislation, the Ministry ensures the development of
a sound and progressive legal framework that benefits both business and community. The Ministry
also engages with key international and regional organisations on transnational criminal and civil
justice issues, to promote and protect Singapore’s interests in the global arena.
More information can be found on www.mlaw.gov.sg.
Centre for Law & Business
National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law
The new Centre for Law & Business, located at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore,
seeks to enhance and promote research and educational opportunities for faculty, students, legal
practitioners and business executives who share a common interest in the fields of Law, Business and
Economics. These opportunities will be encouraged through the Centre's work and sponsorship of
seminars, conferences and research endeavours. The Centre for Law & Business will also engage in
appropriate research projects commissioned by industry from time to time.
The vision of CLB is to be the leading law centre in Asia in the field of Law and Business, and one of
the leading research institutions in this field globally. It will seek to do this through inter-disciplinary
work that has a strong comparative law focus, which includes examining the extent to which legal
convergence is taking place in a globalized and interconnected world.
http://law.nus.edu.sg/clb/
Singapore Academy of Law
The Singapore Academy of Law (the “Academy”) is the promotion and development agency for
Singapore’s legal industry. Our vision is to make Singapore the legal hub of Asia.
We aim to drive legal excellence through developing thought leadership, world class infrastructure
and legal solutions. We do this by building up the intellectual capital of the legal profession by
enhancing legal knowledge, raising the international profile of Singapore law, promoting Singapore as
a centre for dispute resolution and improving the efficiency of legal practice through the use of
technology.
As a body established by statute, the Academy also undertakes statutory functions such as
stakeholding services and the appointment of Senior Counsel, Commissioners of Oath and Notaries
Public.
The Academy is headed by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon. We have over 10,000 members
comprising members of the Bench, the Bar, Legal Service Officers, corporate counsel, legal
academics and foreign lawyers.
http://www.sal.org.sg/
ORGANISING COMMITTEE
Mr Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck, SC
Deputy Solicitor-General
Attorney-General’s Chambers
Mr Toh Shin Hao
Deputy Senior State Counsel
Attorney-General’s Chambers
Chairman
Secretary
Ms Fu Qui Jun
Ministry of Law
Member
Asst Prof Gary Low
Singapore Management University
Member
Ms Pamela Yap
Singapore Management University
Member
A/Prof Gary Bell
National University of Singapore
Member
Ms Li Jin Haw
Attorney-General’s Chambers
Member
Ms Sarah Chan
Attorney-General’s Chambers
Member
Ms Low Lang Cheng
Attorney-General’s Chambers
Member
Ms Patricia Ng
Attorney-General’s Chambers
Member
Ms Serene Wee
Singapore Academy of Law
Alternate members:
Ms Carolyne Lim, Mr Sriram Chakravathi
Member
Mr Chong Kah Wei
ASEAN Law Association
Member
Mr Charles Lim Aeng Cheng
Attorney-General’s Chambers
Adviser/Resource Person
Mr Soh Kee Bun
Attorney-General’s Chambers
Adviser/Resource Person