This international conference has again attracted participants form all four corners of the world with speakers arriving from UK universities and several European countries as well as from India, China and Brazil this year. A special focus is on “smart contracts” and what digitalisation means for the traditional concept of contract. Examples include the role of good faith in a “digitised” contractual performance, the workings of automated payment systems and more general and conceptual enquiries into the impact of digitalisation in contracting and performance. The arbitration panel of the conference includes, in addition to an update on “smart arbitration”, an enquiry into the role of non-signatories (third parties) to arbitration clauses.
The “Future of of the Commercial Contract” project seeks to provide a counterbalance to the generally more visible enquiry into consumer law and consumer contracts. It invites contributions to the subject of commercial contract in a conceptual sense as well as on specific aspects of commercial contracting. Previous enquiries have included the role of regulatory compliance in supply chains, the role of interactive contract performance in construction contracts, the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and many more. A special interest remains on the interface between public and private law including the role of investment treaty arbitration. The CCFL has formed a special Working Group on this subject.
The “Future of of the Commercial Contract” project has been hosted and conducted by the CCFL since 2016. The Centre is directed by Professor Mads Andenas QC and the project is led by Dr Maren Heidemann who is an Associate Research Fellow at the IALS. It brings together senior and junior scholars as well as practitioners. A research network and core group of scholars has been co-operating on this subject. This has led to a number of publications in the form of,
- an edited volume on the subject, “M Heidemann and J Lee (eds), The Future of the Commercial Contract in Scholarship and Law Reform – European and Comparative Perspectives (Springer, Heidelberg 2018)”
- a special issue of the European Business Law Review, “M Heidemann (ed), Special Issue: The Future of the Commercial Contract in Scholarship and Law Reform 29 (6) EBLR 2018”
- as well as a special issue of IALS’ own journal “Amicus Curiae”
CCFL contributors are proud to have been part of the concluding issue of the journal in its current form.
This year’s annual conference is being convened by scholars from three UK universities, Dr Maren Heidemann (University of London , IALS), Catherine Pédamon (University of Westminster) and Dr Jospeh Lee (Exeter University).