The CCTL Private International Law Group at CUHK LAW organised on 21 January 2021 an online seminar entitled ‘HCCH 2005 Choice of Court Convention: Enhancing Access to Justice for Businesses across Borders’.

Dr. João Ribeiro-Bidaoui, First Secretary at the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), delivered the seminar and addressed the essential role of the HCCH in transactional commercial litigation. The seminar started with a brief introduction of the history of the HCCH, including its mandate, membership, core conventions and regional presence.  For the main part of his presentation Dr. Ribeiro-Bidaoui focused on the Choice of Court Convention and its potential to be a ‘game changer’ in settling cross-border commercial disputes and whether it can achieve for litigation what the New York Convention has achieved for arbitration in facilitating internal dispute resolution. He finished his talk with a discussion of the Judgments Convention and to what degree it will complement the Choice of Court Convention.

Prof. Alan Gibb chaired the seminar.