About SIFoCC
SIFoCC is an international forum that brings together commercial courts from across the world. SIFoCC has over 40 member jurisdictions, involves judiciaries from all but one continent, and brings together common law and civil law traditions. SIFoCC was established in 2017 for three reasons:
- Users – that is, business and markets – will be better served if best practice is shared between courts and courts work together to keep pace with rapid commercial change.
- Together courts can make a stronger contribution to the rule of law than they can separately, and through that contribute to stability and prosperity worldwide.
- As a means of supporting developing countries long encouraged by agencies such as the World Bank to enhance their attractiveness to investors by offering effective means for resolving commercial disputes.
About the 3rd Meeting of SIFoCC
Following its meetings in London and New York, the 3rd Meeting of SIFoCC is hosted by Singapore and will be held online on 11–12 March 2021. Senior judicial representatives from jurisdictions all over the world will convene to engage in judge-to-judge dialogue on topics such as:
- Technology in a new world – Issues arising from the use of technology: open justice, transparency and security, problems and opportunities presented by data, ethical and regulatory issues arising from artificial intelligence and the procedural, evidential and substantive questions that will face commercial courts in the age of technology in commerce
- Meeting the needs of court users – Including responding to user needs given the economic consequences of the pandemic. Judges will discuss views of a number of international corporate general counsel
- Third-party litigation funding – Including the scale of use of commercial litigation funding, and its forms, regulation and the role of the courts
- Enforcement of commercial judgments and case management – SIFoCC international working groups in these areas will share and discuss findings
- Arbitration and the courts – Getting the best from both
- Cross-border insolvency – Current developments internationally
Programme
EST
GMT
GST
SGT
AEDT
Opening session
Opening remarks:
Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon
SIFoCC Progress Report
Grace Karrass (Head of Secretariat)
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Report of First SIFoCC International Working Group –
Working presumptions on international best practice in case management:Chief Justice James Allsop and
Sir Peter Gross (Working Group co-chairs) -
Report of Second SIFoCC International Working Group –
Common themes in international enforcement of judgments (including the 2nd edition of the SIFoCC Multilateral Memorandum on Enforcement of Commercial Judgments for Money)Justice Sir William Blair and
Judge Francois Ancel (Working Group co-chairs) -
The SIFoCC Judicial Programme of Observation and Study
EST
GMT
SGT
GST
Judicial roundtable discussion: Technology in a new world
Full live session – all jurisdictions present
Objectives:
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To assess the present and prospective scale of use of commercial litigation funding, and its forms
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To reflect on the current models for regulation that are in use internationally
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To identify the issues that arise for the courts, and the role of the courts
Sir Geoffrey Vos MR (England and Wales)
Chief Justice Luiz Fux (Brazil)
Justice Aedit Abdullah (Singapore)
Deputy Chief Judge Shen Honyu(People’s Republic of China)
Registrar Chris Campbell-Holt(Kazakhstan)
Mr Justice Mark Horner(Northern Ireland)
Break
EST
GMT
GST
Judicial roundtable discussion: Commercial (third party) litigation funding
Split live session
First session
Objectives:
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To assess the present and prospective scale of use of commercial litigation funding, and its forms
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To reflect on the current models for regulation that are in use internationally
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To identify the issues that arise for the courts, and the role of the courts
Mr Edwin Tong SC,Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law, Singapore
Ms Susan Dunn , Chair, the Association of Litigation Funders
Justice John Middleton (Australia) (Final Report “Integrity, Fairness and Efficiency – An Inquiry into Class Action Proceedings and Third-Party Litigation Funders”, 2018)
Lord David Hope, Chief Justice (Abu Dhabi Global Markets Courts)
GST
SGT
EST
NZDT
Middle East / Asia / Australasia
GMT
Judicial roundtable discussion: Commercial (third party) litigation funding
Split live session
Second session
Objectives:
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To assess the present and prospective scale of use of commercial litigation funding, and its forms
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To reflect on the current models for regulation that are in use internationally
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To identify the issues that arise for the courts, and the role of the courts
Mr Edwin Tong SC,Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law, Singapore
Ms Susan Dunn , Chair, the Association of Litigation Funders
Justice John Middleton (Australia) (Final Report “Integrity, Fairness and Efficiency – An Inquiry into Class Action Proceedings and Third-Party Litigation Funders”, 2018)
Lord David Hope, Chief Justice (Abu Dhabi Global Markets Courts)
GMT
GST
SGT
AEDT
NZDT
Judicial roundtable discussion: Meeting the needs of court users
Full live session – all jurisdictions present
Objectives:
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Responding to user needs given the economic consequences of the pandemic
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Identifying appropriate ways of courts keeping in touch with user needs
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Focusing on the importance of the rule of law to users
Chief Justice Emeritus Bart Katureebe (Uganda)
Justice Geoffrey Venning (New Zealand)
Mr Wong Taur Jiun,General Counsel, Rabobank
Mr Shuva Mandal , General Counsel, Tata International
Mr Cavinder Bull SC, members of the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA)
Mr Audley Sheppard QC, Chair, London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
Chief Justice James Allsop(Australia Federal Courts)
Dr Jan Tolkmitt, Federal Court, Germany
GMT
SGT
AEDT
NZDT
Short final reflections on the present and future role for the world’s commercial courts, and for SIFoCC
Full live session – all jurisdictions present
Presiding Judge S.K. Yeon (South Korea)
Chief Justice Andrew Cheung(Hong Kong SAR)
Judge Fabienne Schaller(France)
Judge Nallini Pathmanathan(Malaysia)
Mr Justice Prateek Jalan(India)
Lord Chief Justice Ian Burnett(England and Wales)
Lord John Thomas
Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Lord Thomas
About Singapore

Uniquely Singapore
Singapore is a sunny, tropical island in Southeast Asia, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Singapore is a city, a nation and a state. It is about 275 square miles, smaller than the State of Rhode Island, and inhabited by five million people from four major communities; Chinese (majority), Malay, Indian and Eurasian. Since its independence in 9 August 1965, the country has adopted a parliamentary democracy system. Currently, the government and the cabinet are led by Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong while President Halimah Yacob is the Head of State.
Singapore is known as a City in a Garden and nearly 50 percent of the island is green space. It is a thriving metropolis offering a world-class infrastructure, a fully integrated island-wide transportnetwork, dynamic business environment, vibrant living spaces and a rich culture largely influenced by the four major communities in Singapore with each offering different perspective of life in Singapore in terms of culture, religion, food, language and history.
One of the reasons that Singapore proves to be such an attraction as a home is the ease of living, particularly in terms of residence, transportation and governance system. Over the years, Singapore has made significant strides in many areas and has attracted an encouraging number of international accolades which recognize the city as vibrant and world-class.
So whether it's the arts and cultural exchanges, the creation of cutting-edge innovation to enrich the lives of the communities at home or abroad, or the coming together of world-class minds to spark new business opportunities locally and internationally, Singapore is simply, the place where worlds meet.”
Please click here to find out more about Singapore
FAQs
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Members of the public do not have access to the meeting on the actual day. However, highlights of the meeting will be made publicly available on the microsite shortly after the meeting has concluded.
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Access the login page by clicking on the “Login” button on the top right of this site. Key in your registered email address and the passcode to have full access to the site.
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Yes, but the microsite is best viewed on a laptop or tablet with bigger screen size. As such, we strongly encourage participants to log in using their laptop or tablet in order to have the best meeting experience.
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For best viewing experience on the microsite, a minimum of 10 Mbps with stable internet connection would be required. LAN connection (wired) instead of Wi-Fi connection is encouraged. You may do a speed test online at speedtest.net to determine your internet speed.
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You may view profiles of the delegates from “Delegates” tab in the menu bar.
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pre-recorded contributions?
You may view the pre-recorded contributions by clicking on the contributor’s name in the “Programme” tab or view it in the “Videos” section in “Resources” tab.
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Click on “Auditorium” tab, or the current session title in the “Programme” tab, to enter the virtual meeting room. The virtual meeting room will be accessible 30 minutes before the commencement of the meeting. We encourage attendees to log in early.
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Use the raise hand function to signal your intention to speak. You will be prompted to unmute your microphone before you speak. Please remember to mute your microphone after you finished speaking.
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Click on the “Forum Discussions” tab in the menu bar to access the forum. Upon clicking, the tab will unveil three discussion topics. Select the topic you want to contribute in and you will be brought into the forum. Please read the instructions on how to participate in the forum discussion before you begin your contribution.
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Will sessions be recorded and
accessible after the meeting?
Yes, all sessions will be recorded and made available to delegates in the microsite after the meeting.
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Who should I contact if I have
any queries?
For information about the meeting and SIFoCC, you may email Grace Karrass: Grace.Karrass1@judiciary.uk or call at: +44 7510 588 019
For technical support, you may email the technical team at: digital-events@expcreations.com or call/ whatsapp us at: +65 9068 3970