By Prashant Reddy Thikkavarapu 

The SMU School of Law held a joint research forum with the School of Law, the University of Reading (UoR) on the latter’s campus on 7 June 2017. The forum began with a welcome address by Professor Susan Breau, the Head of the School of Law, UoR followed by opening remarks by Professor Yeo Tiong Min, S.C., Dean of SMU School of Law.

The first session of the forum was on the topic of ‘Regulation and Contract’. The session featured three presentations by Professor Mark Findlay and Associate Professor Goh Yihan of SMU, followed by a presentation by Dr. Bolanle Adebola, Lecturer at UoR. The topic of Professor Findlay’s presentation was ‘Property is Theft: Law’s Regulatory relevance in a dis-embedding exchange economy’. In his talk, Professor Findlay discussed the theory and philosophy of property and its changing nature in the age of internet where a younger generation is getting accustomed to free downloading of copyrighted content from the internet and the sharing of resources. This was followed by a discussion initiated by Professor James Devenney of UoR and joined by other members attending the research forum.

The topic of Professor Goh’s presentation was on ‘The Use of Subsequent Conduct in the Interpretation of Contracts’. In his presentation Professor Goh pointed out the inconsistencies in the manner in which Singapore courts have used ‘subsequent conduct’ to interpret contracts. He contrasted the position in Singapore with that of the UK and argued for greater consistency in the manner in which courts in Singapore construe ‘subsequent conduct’ to interpret contracts. This presentation was followed by a discussion that was led by Professor Chris Newdick of UoR who discussed the role of courts in interpreting contracts and whether courts can read in terms into contracts.

The last presentation for the first session was by Dr. Adebola on the issue of ‘An invitation to Encourage Due Consideration for the Survivability of Rescued Businesses in the Business Rescue System of England and Wales’. Her discussion focused on the conflicting interests of the creditors and the survival of the stressed entity that is facing bankruptcy. Dr. Adebola concluded her presentation by calling for reform of the law in the UK to focus more on future recovery of the stressed entity rather than maximizing value of pre-stress creditors. This was followed by a discussion led by Associate Professor Lee Pey Woan of SMU.

The second session was on the issue of ‘Trade and IP’. This session featured presentations by Associate Professor Pasha Hsieh, Professor Irene Calboli of SMU, and Mr. Adrian Aronsson-Storrier, Lecturer at UoR. The topic of Professor Hsieh’s talk was “Understanding the RCEP in Asia-Pacific Regionalism: Legal and Business Dimensions”. In his talk, Professor Hsieh discussed the history of trade agreements before RCEP, focusing on the growing trend of regional trade agreements in Europe and Asia. Discussing the various issues with regional trade agreements in the 21^st century such as rules of origin, movement of natural persons, ISDS etc. Professor Hsieh provided the audience with insights into the implication of global regionalism. His presentation was followed by a discussion led by Lecturer Dr. Deni Mantzari of UoR.

The second presentation of this session was by Professor Irene Calboli, who spoke on the topic: ‘Geographical Indications of Origin and Intangible Cultural Heritage: Match or Mismatch?’ In her presentation Professor Calboli discussed the role played by geographical indications (GI) in promoting and protecting culture as also the relationship between culture and trade. Focusing on the increasing interest in GIs within Asia, she discussed whether GI law was fulfilling its public policy objectives and whether GIs can in fact protect cultural interests and preserve cultural identity in the face of market pressures. Professor Calboli’s presentation was followed by a discussion that was led by Associate Professor Dr. Stavroula Karapapa of UoR who questioned whether GI could survive in the globalized world amidst the increasing focus on standardization. Other members of the forum joined the discussion. 

The final presentation of this session was by Mr. Adrian Aronsson Storrier, Lecturer at UoR. The topic of his presentation was ‘Contracting out of copyright exceptions’ which is the practice whereby users accessing copyrighted content agree to not exercise exceptions and limitations allowed under statutory copyright law. In his presentation, Mr. Storrier discussed the possibility of contracting out of copyright exceptions under various EU directives, focusing on a proposal in the EU to create new exemptions for text and data-mining. His discussion was followed by a discussion led by Professor David Llewellyn, Deputy Dean of SMU School of Law, and Prashant Reddy, Research Associate at SMU.  

The research forum was concluded by closing remarks from Professor Tan Hang Wu, Director of the SMU Centre for Cross-Border Commercial Law in Asia, and Prof. Nicholas Hopkins of UoR.

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