This conference explores the current state of the law of sale of goods by examining how sales contracts, particularly those used in international trade, are governed in the modern world. The central theme concerns two competing forces within the sale of goods law:

• Those leading to disintegration,
• Those pushing towards uniformity, consolidation and standardisation.

The conference will address challenges arising from the apparent disintegration in the law of sale of goods flowing from: the multiplicity of sources governing sales contracts; the multitude of commercial sectors and market structures, within which sales contracts are made and performed; and problems of achieving uniformity in the application of international instruments, such as UN Sales Convention. At the same time, the conference will examine the extent to which the (traditional) approach that treats sales law as one consolidated body of the law continues to shape the ways, in which sales contracts are governed and disputes, arising from them, are resolved around the world. From this perspective, the conference will address some of the most topical and challenging issues in the law of the sale of goods.

The speakers are comprised of leading international academics and practitioners, as well as representatives of commercial and international organisations. This conference is the first of its kind and will promote a dialogue between the worlds of legal/commercial practice, academia and international organisations.

The conference will be of interest to legal and commercial practitioners, academics and students, interested in the law of sales of goods and the law of commercial contracts, regardless of a legal system or jurisdiction they represent.

Conference Programme (Subject to Change)

16 April 2018 Day 1

08.30 Registration and Coffee

09.15 Welcome from Professor Gillian Douglas, Executive Dean, The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London

Session 1: Shaping the Law of the Sale of Goods. Chaired by Professor Jan Dalhuisen, King’s College London

09.30 Contract Law and the Law of Sale of Goods, Professor Catharine MacMillan, King’s College London

09.50 Purposes of Modern Sales Law, Dr Lisa Spagnolo, Senior Lecturer, Monash University (Australia)

10.10 The Impact of Arbitration on the Development of International Sales Law, Sir Richard Aikens, formerly Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales; Brick Court Chambers

10.30 Has the UN Sales Convention Achieved its Key Purpose(s)? Professor Ulrich Schroeter, University of Basel (Switzerland)

10.50 Discussion

11.10 Coffee Break

Session 2: Trade Associations, their Rules and Standard Form Contracts. Chaired by Mr Andrew Buchmann, Partner, Hill Dickinson LLP

11.30 Standard Form Contracts in Sale of Goods, Professor Clayton Gillette, New York University (USA)

11.50 The Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA) and GAFTA Sales Contracts, Jonathan Waters, General Counsel, GAFTA

12.10 The Cocoa Trade, Philip Sigley, The Federation of Cocoa Commerce

12.30 Discussion

12.50 Lunch

Session 2: Trade Associations, their Rules and Standard Form Contracts (continued). 

14.20 The Sugar Association of London and The Refined Sugar Association: The Institutional Framework, Nigel Durham, Secretary, The Sugar Association of London and The Refined Sugar Association

14.40 The Refined Sugar Association: The Contractual Framework, Philip van Grutten, Chairman, The Refined Sugar Association

15.00 Discussion

15.20 Coffee Break

Session 3: Long Term Sales Contracts. Chaired by Professor Loukas Mistelis, Director of the School of International Arbitration, the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London

15.40 Long-term Gas Sales Agreements, Mr Marc Hammerson, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

16.00 Long-Term Contracts: Japanese Law and the UN Sales Convention, Professor Hiroo Sono, Hokkaido University (Japan)

16.20 Long Term Power Purchase Agreements, Patrick Wallace, Partner, Simmons & Simmons 

16.40 Discussion

17.00 Drinks Reception

17 April 2018 Day 2

08.45 Coffee

Session 4: Commercial Contexts - Manufactured Goods and Global Supply Chains. Chaired by Mr James Kennedy, Senior Associate, Clyde & Co LLP

09.20 The ICC Model Sales Contract for Manufactured Goods, Professor Dr Lorenzo Prats, Professor of Civil Law, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain

09.40 Global Supply Chains: Lessons for Sales Laws, Professor Cafaggi, European University Institute (Italy)

10:00 Discussion

10.20 Coffee Break

Session 5: Looking into the Substance of Sales Law. Chaired by Professor Jonathan Harris QC, King’s College London; Serle Court

10.40  The Role of a Trade Usage in the International Sales Law and Practice, Professor Djakhongir Saidov, King’s College London

11.00 Sales Law and Software, Professor Sarah Green, University of Bristol

11.20  Damages in the English Sales Law, Professor Andrew Tettenborn, Swansea University

11.40 Discussion

12.00 Coffee Break

Session 6: Trade Terms. Chaired by Mr Christopher Hancock QC, 20 Essex Street

12.20  CIF Contracts in English Law - Current Issues and Problems, Professor Michael Bridge, National University of Singapore

12.40  INCOTERMS and the Standardisation of the International Sales Law, Prof Juana Coetzee, Associate Professor, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

13.00 Discussion

13.20 Lunch

Session 7: Sales Law and other Areas - The Intersections. Chaired by Professor Louise Gullifer, University of Oxford 

14.30  Paperless Trade, Dr Miriam Goldby, Reader in Shipping, Insurance and Commercial Law, Queen Mary, University of London

14.50 The Retention of Title Clauses: A Comparative Analysis, Professor Michael Schillig, King’s College London

15.10 Discussion

15.30 Coffee Break

Session 7: Sales Law and other Areas - The Intersections (continued)

15.50  Consolidation and Disintegration under the Uniform Customs and Practices for Documentary Credits, Mr Christopher Hare, Travers Smith Associate Professor of Corporate and Commercial Law and Fellow of Somerville College, University of Oxford 

16.10  Conformity of Documents: The Interplay between the Laws of Sales and Finance, Dr Sanam Saidova, Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham

16.30 Discussion

16.50 Keynote Speech - Lord Clarke, former judge of the Supreme Court

17.30 Close