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General Introduction The next generation of international lawmakers will be private parties. ~ Statement of Boutros Boutros-Ghali to the WLF secretariat, May 2007 International lawmaking and regulation is a process in which private parties fulfil a more important role than is often visible. They often regulate their international affairs in standard contracts or through international sectoral norms and therefore may be missed by the public eye; international media and politics. Without the involvement of public actors their regulation is often highly effective but their legitimacy is limited to the scope of the committed parties within the sector. As long as the business is going well this kind of self-regulation may be the most time- and costeffective method. However, these mechanisms may need public supervision in situations when: technical aspects of contracts are so complicated that subsequently in-depth experts need to be more structurally involved to stimulate sustainable international dispute resolution; damage is caused to third parties (often citizens) outside the framework that provides the international private rules; the company operates in states with an ineffective regulatory system where private norms are hardly applicable or enforceable. Therefore, serious accountability gaps remain. The question therefore is how the government should intervene. On the one hand, to what extent should and could private parties fulfil the function of international regulator? On the other hand, the focus should be on how to create effective supervision while still benefitting from the effectiveness of private regulation. In the above situations new international consensual or legal instruments need to be created. These issues will be the topics of the third edition of World Legal Forum; Day 1 will have a more general focus, and day 2 the discussions will be narrowed to Corporate Social Responsibility and New International Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in the Financial Markets. Objectives of the Conference and the Seminars In the spirit of the previous two fora a Conference on Private International Regulation and Public Supervision will be held this year on 7 and 8 December, in the Peace Palace, in The Hague. The opening day of the Conference will focus on the discourse between public and private actors regarding the questions when, where and what kind of public supervision on private international regulation is desirable. The seminar on New International Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in the Financial Markets will focus on aspects of international financial regulation and harmonisation of contracts. Furthermore, the seminar will try to answer the question regarding possible types and procedural aspects of an international financial dispute resolution body. Participants will be involved in a discussion on the necessity of establishing these new instruments. The parallel seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility will cover the issue of international regulation of private business conduct in the fields of human rights and environment. Participants will try to come to a conclusion whether corporate social responsibility can be hardened into concrete international standards that will establish criteria for responsibility of private companies. Furthermore, this seminar will discuss the prospects of an international dispute resolution mechanism for business and human rights. The first day of the Conference will be chaired by Mr. Bernard Bot, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. We should investigate how to combine the legitimacy of international politics with the effectiveness of private regulators. ~ Francis Fukuyama at World Legal Forum, December 2008 Peace Palace, The Hague Conference Venue of WLF 2009 Conference Dinner at the Kurhaus Monday evening 7 December
GENERAL PROGRAMME ~ 7 DECEMBER 2009 08.30-09:30 Welcome & Registration 09:30-09:50 Official Opening World Legal Forum 2009 Introduction by the Chair of the conference Mr. Bernard Bot, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Chair of the Carnegie Foundation, President of the Governing Board of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael Ms Nebahat Albayrak, State Secretary for Justice of the Netherlands Session I ~ Keynote Speech: Public and Private Responsibilities in International Governance 09:50-10:30 Mr. Ruud Lubbers, Minister of State, former Dutch Prime-Minister Mr. Renaud Sorieul, Secretary-General United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) 10:30-10:45 Questions & Answers 10:45-11:15 Coffee Break Session II ~ Modalities for Public Supervision 11:15-12:15 Mr. David Raič, Deputy Director and Head of Research Programming at The Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law (HiiL) Mrs Marianne Klingbeil, Director of Better Regulation, Evaluation and Impact Assessment, European Commission Mr. Christoph Crüwell, Head of Section in the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) 12:15-12:30 Questions & Answers 12:30-13.30 Lunch Break 13:30-14:30 Session III ~ Views from the Private World Mr. Beat Hess, Group Legal Director and Member of the Executive Committee, Royal Dutch Shell plc. Mr. Peter Dengate-Thrush, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Mr. Antony Burgmans, Former Chairman and CEO Unilever NV & plc. 14:30-14:45 Questions & Answers 14:45-15:15 Coffee Break Concluding Debate ~ International Public Norm-Setting for Private Actors: who takes the lead? Mr. Jan Eijsbouts, Former General Counsel and Director Legal Affairs AkzoNobel, Adviser International Business Law & Conflict Management, Member WLF Governing Board Mrs Marianne Klingbeil, Director of Better Regulation, Evaluation and Impact Assessment, European Commission 15:15-16:45 Mr. Renaud Sorieul, Secretary-General United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Ms Meg Taylor, Vice President, Compliance Adviser Ombudsman for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group Mr. Herman Mulder, Former Senior Executive Vice President Group Risk Management of the ABN AMRO Bank; Senior Advisor to the United Nations Global Compact; Initiator of the Equator Principles 16:45-17:00 Conclusions of Day 1 and Aims for Day 2 ~ Chaired by Mr. Bernard Bot 17:00-18:00 Reception 19:00 Dinner Opened by Mr. Frits Huffnagel, Deputy Mayor for City Marketing, International Affairs, Municipal Organisation, City Centre, and IT
SEMINARS PROGRAMME ~ 8 DECEMBER 2009 Seminar I New International Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in the Financial Markets Chaired by Mr. Paul Arlman, Chair of Plan International; Chair of Transparency International The Netherlands; Former Secretary-General Federation of European Securities Exchanges The Prospects for International Financial Regulation Seminar II Corporate Social Responsibility Chaired by Mr. Jan Eijsbouts, Former General Counsel and Director Legal Affairs AkzoNobel, Adviser International Business Law & Conflict Management Human Rights 09:30-11:00 Mr. Onno Ruding, Former Vice-Chairman Citibank; Former Finance Minister of The Netherlands; Member of the Larosière Committee Mr. Klaus Löber, Head of Oversight Division, European Central Bank; Chair International Law Reform Group International Bar Association 11:00-11:30 Coffee Break A World s Court for the Financial Markets? Mr. John F. Sherman, Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard University, Former Deputy General Counsel of National Grid Mr. Claes Cronstedt, Former International Partner of Baker & McKenzie Law; Member of the CSR working-group of experts of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe Mr. Cees van Dam, Visiting Professor King s College London, Honorary Professor Utrecht University, and independent legal consultant Environment 11:30-13:00 Mr. Jeffrey Golden, Special U.S. Counsel and U.S. Law Practice Founder Partner, Allen & Overy LLP; Past Chair, American Bar Association Section of International Law Ms Gaytri Kachroo, Owner of Kachroo Legal Services; Initiator and Vice-chair of the Madoff Lawyers Alliance Ms Elaine Dorward-King, Global Head - Health, Safety and Environment at Rio Tinto Mr. Thomas Heller, Professor of International Legal Studies at Stanford Law School; Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment Mrs Birgit Spießhofer, Partner at Hengeler Mueller in Berlin; Officer of the IBA CSR committee; Member of the CCBE Task Force on CSR 13:00-14:00 Lunch Break International Arbitration on Complex Financial Products 14:00-15:30 Mr. Gerard Meijer, Head of Arbitration Group NautaDutilh N.V., introduction & interview with Professor Pieter Sanders, Honorary President of International Council for Commercial Arbitration (video presentation) Ms Joanne Kellermann, Executive Director of the Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) Sir William Blair, Commercial Court Judge, London Mr. Spiros V. Bazinas, Senior Legal Officer, International Trade Law Division, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (UNCITRAL Secretariat) 15:30-16:00 Coffee Break 16:00-17:00 Concluding Plenary Debate Chaired by the seminar moderators Mr. Paul Arlman and Mr. Jan Eijsbouts 17:00-18:00 Reception Dispute Resolution Systems Ms Caroline Rees, Director, Governance & Accountability Program, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School; Advisor to the UN Secretary-General s Special Representative for Business and Human Rights Ms Meg Taylor, Vice President, Compliance Adviser Ombudsman for the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, World Bank Group Mr. Martijn Scheltema, Partner at Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn
THE HAGUE The Hague is the International City of Peace and Justice. With its international allure, it houses numerous international institutes such as the International Court of Justice, the Hague Conference on Private International Law, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal and the European Patent Office, but also the headquarters of one of the world s leading multinationals such as Shell, and the international insurance company Aegon. Join them, The Hague is committed to and is well known for international business. You and your services are welcome to this city that combines public interests with private efficiency and this not only in the field of law. The Hague s commitment to hosting public and private actors is eminent, as is its interest in further developing effective international lawmaking Register online at www.worldlegalforum.org WORLD LEGAL FORUM FOUNDATION World Legal Forum (WLF) is founded to stimulate the effectiveness of international law through organising public-private interaction, debates between stakeholders, and the development of new instruments and services. WLF organised in December 2007 its first conference with the theme Effective International Dispute Settlement for Public and Private Actors, by bringing together academics, business people and policy makers and thus facilitating constructive discussion on contemporary characteristics of the topics. Last year WLF conducted the seminar Public and Private Actors in International Lawmaking, new perspectives for international supervision, regulation and dispute resolution, with a keynote address by Professor Francis Fukuyama on the effectiveness of regulations and codes of conduct initiated by private actors and the legitimacy of public international law. The interaction and cooperation between public and private actors is an important step in this changing world order, in which international law is not merely an inter-state activity anymore. The influence of civil society is present and encouraged in a wide range of international law topics. The World Legal Forum foundation aims to structure such cooperation to effectively generate future initiatives within the Hague international legal community. WLF Secretariat in The Hague World Legal Forum foundation Koninginnegracht 22 2514 AB The Hague The Netherlands Programme Coordination Mr. Douwe Sikkema Project Manager e d.sikkema@worldlegalforum.org Logistics Ms Andri van Niekerk Conference Manager e a.vanniekerk@worldlegalforum.org t +31-(0)70-750 8688 e secretary@worldlegalforum.org i www.worldlegalforum.org Ms Julia Noordegraaf Project Assistant e j.noordegraaf@worldlegalforum.org
REGISTRATION INFORMATION & CONDITIONS Date, Venue & Language The conference will take place on Monday 7 December and Tuesday 8 December 2009. The venue will be the Peace Palace in The Hague. The conference, as well as all documentation, will be in English. Online Registration Procedure To participate in the conference registration in advance is mandatory. Participants are requested to complete the online registration form at www.worldlegalforum.org. Each participant should use a separate form. A confirmation letter and an invoice will be sent to you by email upon receipt of registration. Registrations can be made for two days and for one day of the conference. Upon registration participants must indicate their preference with regard to the seminars on Tuesday 8 December. Conference Fees The conference fee is! 495,- for two days and! 295,- for one day. ECLA/NGB members enjoy a special conference fee of! 395,- respectively! 225,-. Participants from EABIS member institutions enjoy a special conference fee of! 350,- respectively! 195,-. Participants from GCNL companies enjoy a special conference fee of! 350,- respectively! 195,-. Participants from an Academic Institute pay! 395,- for two days and! 225,- for one day. Students prices are! 195,- for two days and! 145,- for one day. Monday evening, 7 December, we invite you to join the conference dinner. The conference dinner price of! 65,- is not included in the conference fee. The fee includes administration to the conference, the receptions, lunches and refreshments as well as conference documents (all amounts excluding 19% VAT). Conditions of Registration and Payment The conference registration form constitutes a legally binding agreement, which obliges a person who register to pay the stated amounts which include the non-refundable administration fee of! 95,-. Payment must be made and received in full prior to the event. Payment can be made by bank transfer. The organisation can not be held responsible for the non-arrival of registration information. If you have not received a confirmation of your registration 7 days after you made the registration, please contact the secretariat. Cancellations and Non-Attendance Cancellations will only be accepted if submitted in writing before Monday 16 November 2009. In this case the obligation to pay the conference fee is lifted, and if payment is already been made, the money will be refunded, albeit minus an administrative charge of! 95 (incl. 19% VAT). Cancellations made after 16 November or non-attendance of the event, for whatever reason, does not invoke the obligation to pay the registration fees, hence no refunds will be made. However, WLF welcomes substitute delegates if the secretariat is notified ultimately Tuesday 1 December. Security and Identification Simultaneously with the WLF conference the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings. As a security measure, all visitors to the Peace Palace are required to present a valid ID (passport or driver license) upon entrance to the premises. We urge you to bring a valid ID or you will be refused entry. All participants names will be checked upon arrival. This means we can not accept last-minute registration. The last day of registration will be Wednesday 2 December (18.00 hrs). Visa If you require a visa to visit the Netherlands, we advise you to arrange your visa at least five weeks prior to departure. The organisation does not arrange visas. Insurance The WLF foundation can not be held liable for personal injuries of for loss and/or damage to the personal belongings of participants either during or as a result of the conference.