About this Event
The University of Auckland School of Law is pleased to welcome the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) to Auckland to deliver a guest seminar on the role of UNIDROIT in developing legal frameworks for international commercial and private law that could contribute to legal harmonisation, commercial certainty and economic growth in the region.
The seminar will provide an opportunity for the UNIDROIT executive team to introduce participants to UNIDROIT’s history and mandate, as well as provide a tour of its major successful instruments in a diverse range of fields, including international commercial contracts, cross-border enforcement, law and technology, access to credit, cultural property and sustainable development. The seminar examines whether these instruments have been successful in harmonising law in the Asia Pacific region, and what more can be done. Associate Professor An Hertogen will provide a short comment on the presentation, after which participants will have an opportunity to learn from the manager of UNIDROIT’s research programme about how to engage with the work of UNIDROIT, including through research scholarships, legal internships and involvement in expert working groups.
UNIDROIT is an intergovernmental organization whose objective is to harmonize private international law across countries through uniform rules, international conventions, and the production of model laws, sets of principles, guides and guidelines. Established in 1926 as part of the League of Nations, it was reestablished in 1940 following the League's dissolution through a multilateral agreement. Based in Rome, Italy, UNIDROIT has 65 member states.
The seminar will take place from 9:30 am to 11:00 am on Tuesday, 10 March, in the Stone Lecture Theatre. A light breakfast will be served at 9:00 am, by invitation only.
About the Speakers:
Professor Ignacio Tirado was appointed Secretary-General by the UNIDROIT Governing Council at its 97th session on 27 August 2018. He was recently reappointed, at the 102nd session, for a second term. 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 over ten years, having also consulted for the IMF on insolvency related matters as well as for the Asian Development Bank on commercial legal reform. Amongst other accolades to his professional experience, Professor Tirado is a founding member of the European Banking Institute, an International Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and has been Director and Academic Co-Chair of the International Insolvency Institute.
Anna Veneziano is the Deputy Secretary General of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT). She is a full Professor of Comparative Law at the University of Teramo, Italy (on leave), with previous positions as Director of the Department of Private Law, and tenured Professor of European Property Law at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Her education includes a Law Degree with honours from the University of Rome La Sapienza, an LL.M degree from the Yale Law School funded by a Fulbright scholarship, and a PhD degree from the University of Florence (Italy). Her main research and publication areas are on secured transactions as well as international, comparative, and European contract and sales law. Among her institutional activities before joining UNIDROIT she was a member of the Italian delegation with respect to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests on Mobile Equipment and its Aircraft Protocol as well as its Space Protocol. At UNIDROIT she is, inter alia, involved in the implementation of the Cape Town Convention Protocols.
Dr An Hertogen is an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland Faculty of Law. She completed her undergraduate law degree at the KU Leuven in Belgium, before studying for her LLM at Columbia University in New York, and for her PhD at the University of Auckland. Before starting her PhD, she practised competition law in Brussels and Auckland. Her research interests are in international law, with a particular emphasis on international economic law and on Aotearoa New Zealand's engagement with international law.
William Brydie-Watson is a Senior Legal Officer at the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit), specialising in international instruments related to access to credit and secured transactions law. Within the Institute, William is also Co-Director of the Unidroit Asian Transnational Law Centre and the manager of the Unidroit Scholarship, Internship and Research Programme. Outside Unidroit, William also serves on the Board of Directors of the International Law Institute, is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIARB) and is a visiting lecturer at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. Previously, he worked for the Australian Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Stone Lecture Theatre (801-316), Auckland Law School, Albany, New Zealand
NZD 0.00
