Dr. Luca Castellani, legal officer in the Secretariat of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) lectured on the Relevance of the Work of UNCITRAL for the Law of Digital Economy with a Focus on China for the BNU Law School students, particularly for the LLM in Chinese Law and other postgraduate students, and other legal professionals such as the CIETAC arbitrators.
Expert Lecturer
Dr. Castellani, after graduating in law in the University of Torino, received a doctoral degree in comparative law from the University of Trieste and a master in international law from New York University. Dr. Castellani joined the Office of Legal Affairs of the secretariat of the United Nations in 2001 and the UNCITRAL secretariat in 2004, working in the areas of international sales and of electronic commerce. As secretary of UNCITRAL Working Group IV (Electronic Commerce), Dr. Castellani oversaw the preparation of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records and the negotiation of the Provisions on IdM and Trust Services. Dr. Castellani is also active in the field of paperless trade facilitation and has contributed to drafting the Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific. From March 2012 to November 2013 Dr. Castellani was assigned as first Head of the UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, located in Incheon, Republic of Korea. Dr. Castellani has published several articles and other materials on international trade law and comparative law, namely sale of goods, e-commerce and trade law reform in developing countries.
International and Comparative Law Research Center (ICLRC), along with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation , organized the online discussion session “Digitalization of International Trade” on March 30, 2021, from 1:00 to 6:30 p.m (UTC+3).
ICLRC is a Moscow-based non-profit non-governmental organization conducting research on various issues of public and private international law, as well as holding events on pertinent issues within the sphere.
As stated in the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects mid-2020 report, “nearly 90 per cent of the world economy has been under some form of lockdown, disrupting supply chains, depressing consumer demand and putting millions out of work”. The digitalization of international trade is one of the key factors which could ensure global trade growth in time of a crisis like COVID-19 pandemic and reduce contractor costs in general.
Given the restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to discuss the role of digital technologies in restoring the interrupted commercial ties and in establishing new ones, to analyse approaches to creating effective national and international regulation facilitating the introduction and use of digital forms of communication by market players as well as making them more reliable.
Prof. Xue was invited to give a keynote speech at the Panel 1 “Digital trading platforms”. Prof. Xue provided a comprehensive overview on the Online Trading Platforms in Trade Law and outlined 3 clusters of the platform services that have the most significant impacts on the international trade law. The speech was well received by all the audience and highly recognized by the experts. Prof. Xue also effectively responded to a variety of questions from harmonization of cross-border regulation to application to blockchain technology.
The Inclusive Global Legal Innovation Platform on Online Dispute Resolution (iGLIP on ODR) was set up by HKSAR Department of Justice, in collaboration with UNCITRAL, to survey the ODR landscape, keep track of and study emerging technologies and how they influence and affect the ODR process, conduct in-depth analyses on potential issues that may arise, and explore, discuss and develop innovative legal tools to address such issues. The first meeting of iGLIP on ODR was held on 18 March 2021 (HKT 4:00 – 6:35 p.m.). The event on recent developments in online platforms researched their disputes and trade-related activities to assist UNCITRAL in exploring future work in this area.
Online platforms (also known as “digital platforms” or “electronic platforms” are increasingly being used for trade. With the help of enhanced data processing and advanced algorithms, online platforms enable the sale of goods and supply of services, connect global supply chain participants, and create online spaces for collaboration. Employing a range of systems and technologies, while also pursuing a range of business models, online platforms not only create new trading opportunities, but also new ways of trading. The potential of online platforms for trade is particularly acute so for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Online platforms employ a range of systems and technologies, including the use of interactive applications (e.g. allowing for communication between platform users), and offer additional services. They may also include a system for handling complaints, as well as a system for handling disputes between users (in which case the platform would also be a dispute resolution platform). On the other hand, platforms have also been developed fully dedicated to the resolution of disputes.
Prof. Xue was invited to give a keynote speech on the platforms’ dispute resolution mechanisms, e.g. notice system and complaining system, and present the potential and future development of the platforms in resolving international trade disputes. More than 40 experts from 3 continents joined the meeting and had the interesting discussions.
Programme
18 March 2021, 16:00-18:35 HK (GMT +8), 09:00-11:35 Vienna (CET)
16:00-16:20 Opening remarks
Ms Teresa CHENG (Secretary for Justice, HKSAR) (10 mins)
Ms Anna JOUBIN-BRET (Secretary, UNCITRAL) (10 mins)
16:20-17:25
Roundtable discussion on platforms for international trade and their linkage to
dispute resolution
Moderator: Mr Jae Sung LEE (Legal Officer, UNCITRAL)
Rapporteur: Mr Ian LI (Acting Senior Government Counsel, Department of Justice,
HKSAR, DOJ Project Office for Collaboration with UNCITRAL)
Presenters
“Platform-based Models for International Trade: Legal
Anatomy, Recent Trends, and Dispute Resolution Schemes”,Professor Teresa RODRÍGUEZ DE LAS HERAS BALLELL (Associate Professor of
Commercial Law, University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain) (8
mins)
“The Platform Effects of
Dispute Resolution in International Trade”, Professor
Hong XUE (Law Professor, Beijing Normal
University, China)
(8 mins)
Discussion from iGLIP members (up to 4 mins per intervention)
17:25-18:30
Roundtable discussion on online platforms for international dispute resolution
Moderator: Dr James DING (Commissioner, Inclusive Dispute Avoidance and Resolution
Office, Department of Justice, HKSAR)
Rapporteur: Ms Michelle FUNG (Acting Deputy Principal Government Counsel, Department
of Justice, HKSAR, DOJ Project Office for Collaboration with UNCITRAL)
Presenters
“International Rule
Making Projects on ODR”, Professor Yoshihisa HAYAKAWA (Professor of
law, Rikkyo University, Japan) (8 mins)
“Moving the needle”, Ms Lise ALM (Head of Business
Development, The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce,
Sweden) (8
mins)
Discussion from iGLIP members (up to 4 mins per intervention)
On 8-9 March 2021, at 11am to 2pm CET, Expert Group Meeting (EGM) was held to discuss the digital economy project. The EGM focused on 2 themes, i.e. (a) a legal taxonomy on emerging technologies used in digital trade, in particular a new section of the taxonomy on online platforms; and (b) a proposal for future legislative work by UNCITRAL on the use of artificial intelligence and automation in contracting (including “smart contracts”).
The EGM was in the form of a moderated roundtable discussion with introductory remarks by the Chair of UNCITRAL, H.E. Eric Anderson Machado, Ambassador of Peru, and the Secretary of UNCITRAL, Ms. Anna Joubin-Bret. More than 30 experts from 20 countries joined the EGM. Prof. Xue was the only Chinese expert invited to participate and present at the meeting.
On day one, Prof. Xue shared the Chinese experience on legal definition and regulation of e-commerce platforms and discussed with the other experts on the relevant taxonomy, actors and legal engagement issues regarding the platforms. On day two, Prof. Xue discussed the difference between machine automation and autonomy, AI ethics and liability issues with the other experts.
All experts agrees that the discussion shall go one and UNCITRAL’s DE project will considerably important to the establishment of the relevant legal framework on new digital trade.
Dr. Luca Castellani, legal officer in the Secretariat of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) lectured on the Relevance of the Work of UNCITRAL for the Law of Digital Economy with a Focus on China for the BNU Law School students, particularly for the LLM in Chinese Law and other postgraduate students, and other legal professionals such as the CIETAC arbitrators. 
