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UNCITRAL in Colombo after 20 years
View(s):The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law – Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific (UNCITRAL-RCAP) will conduct its South Asia Seminar on September 18 and 19 in Colombo. The two-day seminar will bring in more than 15 foreign experts who would join their Sri Lankan counterparts as keynote speakers, panel discussion moderators and members of panels. Each panel discussion will address a variety of commercial law subjects.
The seminar is being held in association with the Information and Communication Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and will be first ever significant event of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) hosted in Sri Lanka, in more than 20 years.
According to Joao Ribeiro, Head of UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and Pacific “the panel discussions will specially focus on electronic dimensions of commercial law and electronic communications and will be an ideal opportunity to bring together senior commercial law practitioners, government lawyers, policy leaders and decision makers.
He said that one of the reasons which convinced UNCITRAL to come to Sri Lanka is its mature and internationally compatible electronic transactions legal regime, which is based on the UNCITRAL Mode Law on Electronic Commerce as well as Sri Lanka’s continued commitment to becoming a party to the UN Electronic Communications Convention.
ICTA’s Legal Advisor Jayantha Fernando said that the seminar will help prepare the ground for Sri Lanka’s ratification of the UN Electronic Communications Convention. Sri Lanka’s Electronic Transactions Act No. 19 of 2006 was influenced by this important Convention, the only international treaty on the legal aspects of electronic communications. ICTA’s Legal Advisor said that although Sri Lanka was involved in drafting this important Convention and signed it in July 2006; we are yet to ratify it.
Mohan Pieris, PC, Chief Justice of Sri Lanka will be the chief guest and Yuwanjan Wijayatilake, PC, Solicitor General will be the guest of honour while international experts from China, India, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Iran, Vietnam, the Maldives and Nepal as well as high level representatives from UNCITRAL, the World Bank Group, the UN Economic and Social Commission For Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Hague Conference on Private International Law, will speak at the conference. Several Sri Lankan speakers will give the country perspectives to each session.