From May 8-May 10, 2019, as a member recommended by the Chinese government, Dean Shi Jingxia attended the 98th session of the Governing Council of UNIDROIT held in Rome, Italy. The session had 18 formal items and a number of additional items on its agenda.

The Secretariat welcomed the members of the new Council (2019-2023) to attend this session. Council members first expressed their condolences for the passing of Professor Mazzoni, the former president of UNIDROIT. Then the Council reviewed and adopted the UNIDROIT Annual Report 2018 and the Report on the UNIDROIT Foundation delivered by Professor Ignacio Tirado, the new Secretary-General from Spain, on behalf of the Secretariat. The Council then discussed the UNIDROIT work plan for 2020-2022 proposed by the Secretariat in detail. The plan involves eight areas of possible work, and the Council members fully expressed their views on the initiation and priority of each proposal.

In regard to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment, the Council discussed the implementation and current situation of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol and the Space Assets Protocol, and the preparation of the Draft Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on Matters Specific to Mining, Agricultural and Construction Equipment and other possible protocols (including the Ship and Marine Traffic Equipment Protocol, the Renewable Energy Equipment Protocol, the Container Protocol). Professor Roy Goode from the University of Oxford, UK, reported and shared the Official Review of the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol (fourth edition).

In terms of the development of rules for international commercial contracts, the Council continued to follow the process of formulating principles of reinsurance contracts. Secondly, in the area of international sales law, the Council discussed the cooperation with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the Hague Conference on Private International Law (Hague Conference) in preparing a guiding document on the application and harmonization of relevant documents of the three organizations in this field.

With regard to the international protection of cultural property, the Council discussed the follow-up activities and promotion of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects and further discussed legal issues related to private art collections.

In the area of private law and agricultural development, the Council focused on the follow-up activities and promotion of the UNIDROIT/FAO/IFAD Legal Guide on Agricultural Contracts and discussed the progress in drafting an international guidance document on Agricultural Land Investment Contracts (ALIC).

In terms of transactional rules of civil procedure, the Council discussed the regional rules being formulated by the European Law Institute (ELI) and UNIDROIT and related issues concerning the launching of the Principles on Effective Enforcement.

In addition, the Council members also discussed whether to launch a project on the “Human-Centered Business Model”, how to promote the application of UNIDROIT documents, the development of the correspondents system and the progress of UNIDROIT Library and research activities, and other agendas regarding UNIDROIT information resources and policy, the UNIDROIT Budget for the 2020 financial year, etc. At last, the Council held an academic discussion on reinsurance contracts.

During the three-day session, the members of the Council carefully reviewed and discussed all the items on the agenda and decided the date and venue of the 99th session of the Council. The members expressed their satisfaction with the current progress of the work of the Secretariat and working groups, and made various suggestions and arrangements for the next step.

(Photo: members of the new Council and some attendees)

Dean Shi Jingxia actively exchanged opinions with the members about the issues on the agenda, including further clarification of UNIDROIT work plan 2020-2022, the application and promotion of relevant protocols under the Cape Town Convention in China, the public law concerns about the Agricultural Land Investment Contracts, and the improvement of the correspondents mechanisms. Dean Shi stated she would make efforts to help promote the influence and implementation of UNIDROIT guides, conventions, protocols and other documents in China through academic conferences and various activities.