Soft power – exporting the rule of law
Commercial opportunities
6.30pm, Wednesday 14th December 2022, Committee Room 1, House of Lords
An important meeting looking at influence the British legal system can and does have around the world. To illustrate this potential, Christopher Campbell-Holt, the Registrar and Chief Executive of the AIFC Court and International Arbitration Centre (AIC) will be the lead speaker at our meeting.
Established in 2018, the AIFC Court and IAC apply commercial laws from different jurisdictions and in multiple languages by consent of the parties to a dispute. The AIFC Court and IAC illustrate how English common law systems of justice increasingly play a significant “soft power” role as rule of law exports and assist frontier and emerging economies to become successful modern commercial centres. They have completed more than 1,400 commercial disputes via litigation, arbitration, and mediation.
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Lord Woolf was the first Chief Justice of the AIFC Court. He was supported by nine senior English and Welsh judges including Lord Faulks KC, Sir Robin Jacob, Sir Rupert Jackson, Sir Jack Beatson, and Sir Stephen Richards. The current Chief Justice of the AIFC Court is Lord Mance, former Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court. Barbara Dohmann KC became the IAC Chairman and continues to be supported by an international panel of highly respected arbitrators and mediators.
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MODERATOR: Lord Sandhurst KCLord Sandhurst is the current Chair of Research of the Society of Conservative Lawyers. He practised from One Crown Office Row under his family name as Guy Mansfield QC and was Chair of the Bar Council in 2005. He retired from practice on 31 March 2019. He now sits as an excepted hereditary peer on the Conservative Benches.
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LEAD SPEAKER: Christopher Campbell-HoltChristopher Campbell-Holt is the Registrar and Chief Executive of the AIFC Court and International Arbitration Centre (IAC), and Enforcement Judge of the AIFC Court, in Astana, Kazakhstan. He has 20 years of legal experience in the UK, US, Middle East and Central Asia, including at the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. He has lived in Kazakhstan since 2017 and managed the establishment of the AIFC Court and IAC with the first Chief Justice of the AIFC Court, Lord Woolf, from initial concept. Previously, he was Registrar at a similar court in Qatar under the Presidency of Lord Woolf. He has advised governments all around the world on creating and managing commercial courts and common law legal systems. He has an LLB in Law from UCL, is admitted to the Bar of New York State, is a Member at CIArb, a CEDR accredited Mediator. In 2022, he was awarded The Order of Friendship (Dostyq ordeni), the highest level state award presented to individuals for the "promotion of international and civil consensus in society and the promotion of peace, friendship and cooperation between peoples".
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SPEAKER: The Rt Hon Lord Woolf CHLord Woolf was appointed to the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in 1979, as Lord Justice of Appeal in 1986 and a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in 1992. In 1996, he became Master of the Rolls, until being appointed Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales in 2000 until 2005. He has a very long standing interest in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and mediation. His report, Access to Justice, 1996 (The Woolf Report) was generally acknowledged to have been a catalyst for the development of ADR in England. He has lectured on ADR both in the UK and in many countries abroad. He has also served as Special Adviser to CEDR, was Co-Chair of the Commission for Settlement in Arbitration and as a member of CEDR’s Distinguished Panel of Third-Party Neutrals, a panel of CEDR’s most senior dispute resolution experts.
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SPEAKER: The Rt Hon The Lord Faulks KCLord Faulks is a Justice at the AIFC Court, Astana, Kazakhstan. He was called to the Bar (Middle Temple) in 1973 and was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1996 (King’s Counsel as of 8 September 2022). He was created a life peer member of the UK House of Lords in 2000 and was appointed Minister of State at the UK Ministry of Justice (2013–2016). He was appointed a Recorder in 2000 and a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2002. He was Chairman of the Professional Negligence Bar Association (2002–2004) and was appointed Special Advisor to the UK Government Department for Constitutional Affairs on Compensation Culture (2005– 2006). He has an MA from Jesus College, Oxford University, and is an Honorary Fellow.
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SPEAKER: Professor Marc MooreProfessor Moore is Chair in Corporate/Financial Law, Faculty of Laws, UCL. He is Deputy Chief Examiner for Company Law on the University of London’s external LLB programme and has previously held visiting teaching positions at the University of Bristol, the University of Auckland, and Seattle University. He has lectured widely on international commercial law in Kazakhstan. He was Reader in Corporate Law and Director of the Masters in Corporate Law (MCL) degree at the University of Cambridge. He is the author, co-author and co-editor of textbooks and monograph series about corporate governance, which were shortlisted for the 2013 SLS/Peter Birks Book Prize and awarded the 2012 Philip Leverhulme Prize for outstanding researchers who have made a significant contribution to their field of study.