Session Co-Chairs

Charles H Lawton Rio Tinto Plc, London, England; IBA Treasurer

David W Rivkin Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, New York, USA; Vice-Chair, Legal Practice Division

As globalisation continues to shrink the commercial world, governments and courts are increasingly seeking to extend their reach beyond national borders. The ever-widening scope of the activities caught in these jurisdictional battles is causing dismay within the international business community. From its origins in US antitrust law, many jurisdictions now impose the extraterritorial application of domestic law over a myriad of issues in the fields of banking, securities, transport, tax, telecommunications, trade sanctions and even human rights.

  Instances of states seeking to impose their domestic law on foreign trade are not hard to find. Apart from the well-known antitrust cases involving Boeing/McDonald Douglas, GE/Honeywell and Microsoft, the US Helms-Burton Act, which imposes criminal liability on foreign nationals trading with Cuba, and the EC Privity Directive, which controls the holding of personal data outside the EC, have also caused consternation among companies operating outside the issuing jurisdiction. Arguably, Sarbanes-Oxley, dealing with securities law, and the OECD Convention on Bribery and Corruption are other examples of significant extraterritorial exertion. The US Supreme Court has also recently upheld an 18th century Act of the first US Congress, the Alien Tort Statute, as permitting US courts to hear human rights cases involving non-US citizens outside the US, although it significantly limited the application of the Act from what had been permitted by lower courts.

  While governments have an interest in effectively applying their laws, this trend also poses a threat to international trade. It creates a climate of uncertainty. It may expose companies and individuals to prejudiced and unfair treatment in foreign courts and can even result in companies facing conflicting legal requirements. The overall effect is to discourage overseas foreign investment which, in turn, leads to lower growth and lower employment.

  The speakers on this showcase will focus on the conflicting interests of the governmental and business communities and contrast the different approaches adopted in a variety of jurisdictions. They will analyse the applicable international law and suggest ways to minimise the risk of jurisdictional conflict by, for example, the application of the widely recognised principles of comity and forum non conveniens, better inter-governmental cooperation and the adoption of international treaties and standards.

Keynote Speakers

The Right Honourable Lord Peter Goldsmith QC
Attorney General for England and Wales, London, England

Dieter Lange Chairman, ICC Task Force on Extraterritoriality; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, London, England

Speakers

Nicola Bonucci OECD, Paris, France

Thomas J Brandt Managing Counsel, Shell Oil Company, Houston, Texas, USA

Justice Richard Goldstone Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Morningside, South Africa; Co-Chair, IBA Human Rights Institute

Olivier Guersent Special Adviser to Competition Commissioner of the European Commission, Brussels, Belgium

Simone Lahorgue Nunes General Counsel, Globo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Nicolai von Ruckteschell Senior Vice-President and General Counsel, Lufthansa, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Elpidio Villarreal Associate General Counsel-Litigation, Schering-Plough Corporation, Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA

Judge Diane P Wood  United States Court of Appeals, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Session Co-Chairs

Ambassador Emilio Cárdenas Former Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Former IBA President; Co-Chair, IBA Human Rights Institute

Judge Elisabet Fura-Sandström European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France

In the wake of the abolition of totalitarian systems in Europe, the abuse of power by governmental institutions now may take place in the area of commercial activities. This session is an attempt to contribute to the development of the scope of protection offered to European citizens by the European Convention on Human Rights. The session shall examine:

•  the structure, scope and role of the European Court of Human Rights;

•  the extent to which the European Convention on Human Rights can go beyond traditional areas of rights’ protection;

•  where it embraces corporate social responsibility issues and what role the European Court of Human Rights can play in the enforcement of corporate social responsibility schemes
in the international business community;

•  whether Convention rights can be used to challenge governmental and regulatory decision-making;

•  what kind of protection is available under the Convention to employees and how can such protection evolve?

•  an American perspective: regulation of business companies and MNEs using human rights jurisprudence.

Speakers

Patrick Doris Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, London, England

Judge Elisabet Fura-Sandström

Dr Birgit Spiesshofer Hengeler Mueller, Berlin, Germany

Professor Andzrej Marion Swiatkowski Professor of Law, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

James Rayis PC Sokolow Carreras Lemoine & Partners, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Session Co-Chairs

Malcolm Wallis SC Durban, South Africa; Vice-Chair, Bar Issues Commission; Council, Public and Professional Interest Division

Lord Daniel Brennan QC Matrix Chambers, London, England; Co-Chair, Development of the Legal Profession

Willem Calkoen NautaDutilh, Rotterdam, the Netherlands;
Co-Chair, Development of the Legal Profession

This annual, highly interactive session allows experts, including Bar Leaders and leading individual legal practitioners, to address hot topics affecting the legal profession and the Bars.

  This year’s session will approach the lawyer’s role in society from the angle of the perception of core values in society.

  The session will focus on the legal profession’s core values as essential cornerstones of a just, free and democratic society. After years of discussion within the profession, this session will centre around a discussion, led by a journalist, in which representatives of the profession defend its core values to representatives of its clients and the media.

Speakers

Steve Lipin Former Editor, Wall Street Journal, London, England

Stewart White Former Policy Director, Vodafone, Berkshire, England

Seichi Yoshikawa, Japan Federation of Bar Associations, Tokyo, Japan