UK Supreme Court Decisions on Private and Commercial Law: The Role of Public Policy and Public Interest

4 December 2015

Time: 8:30am - 7:15pm
Venue: UK Supreme Court, Parliament Square, Little George Street, London SW1P 3BD

This is the third periodic conference organised by the Centre for Commercial Law Studies with the aim of reviewing the most important judgments of the UK Supreme Court decisions on Commercial and Private Law. Coinciding with and influenced by the significant occasion of the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, the conference aims to explore how public policy and public interest has developed in UK Supreme Court decisions in respect of certain areas of private and commercial law.

Programme

• 08:30 – 09:00 Registration and Coffee
• 09:00 – 09:15 Opening Speeches
• 09:15 – 10:00 Keynote speech: Lord Neuberger, President of the UK Supreme Court
• 10:00 – 11:30 Session 1: The Role of the State and the Doctrine of State Immunity in Respect of Commercial Activities
  • Chair: Sir Bernard Rix, CCLS/ QMUL
    Speakers:
    • Professor Robert McCorquodale, BIICL
    • Oliver Jones, Brick Court Chambers
    • Professor Dan Sarooshi, Essex Court Chambers
    • Karen Denny, Nabarro LLP
  • Topics:
    • UK State Immunity Act 1978
    • Sovereign immunity and commercial activities
• 11:30 – 12:00 Coffee
• 12:00 – 13:30 Session 2: Tax Law, Public Interest and Abuse of Rights
  • Chair: Philip Baker, Field Court Tax Chambers
    Speakers:
    • Graham Aaronson QC, Joseph Hage Aaronson LLP
    • Professor Eduardo Baistrocchi, LSE
    • David Southern QC, Temple Tax Chambers
  • Topics:  
    • The Group of companies concept for tax purposes
    • Group relief, group taxation
    • Non-UK resident subsidiaries
    • Multinationals and tax law
• 13:30 – 14:30 Lunch
• 14:30 – 16:00 Session 3: The Public Interest in Financial and Insolvency Law
  • Chair: Professor Rosa Lastra, CCLS
    Speakers:
    • Professor Takis Tridimas, King's College London
    • Professor Riz Mokal, University College London
    • Michael Crystal QC, South Square 
  • Topics:  
    • Cross-border insolvency
    • Insolvency and public interest
    • Financial law, Regulation and public interest
• 16:00 – 16:30 Tea Break
• 16:30 – 18:15 Session 4: Corporate and Contract Law
  • Chair: Sir Roy Goode QC, University of Oxford
    Speakers:
    • Professor Sarah Worthington, University of Cambridge
    • Mark Howard QC, Brick Court Chambers
    • Paul McGrath QC, Essex Court Chambers
    • Professor John Bell, University of Cambridge
    • Richard Calnan, Norton Rose Fulbright
  • Topics:
    • Piercing the corporate veil
    • Contract interpretation
    • Public policy
    • Whether a claim to recover a bribe is proprietary
• 18:15 – 18:30 Concluding Remarks
• 18:30 – 19:15 Drinks Reception

Contact

For more information, please contact the CCLS Events Team on ccls-events@qmul.ac.uk.

Photography, video and audio recording

Please note that CCLS events may be photographed or video and audio recorded. These materials will be used for internal and external promotional purposes only by Queen Mary University of London. If you object to appearing in the photographs, please let our photographer know on the day. Alternatively you can email the CCLS Events Team on ccls-events@qmul.ac.uk in advance of the event that you are attending.