CORE COMMITTEES: MODEL LAWS
III Model Laws @ Work. What’ s this?
Prepared by Bob Wessels Professor Em. International Insolvency Law, University of Leiden, the Netherlands
Did you see the III You Tube Videos?
The last half year of 2024 yielded something beautiful for the curious or the interested lawyer. The International Insolvency Institute( III) produced a number of videos( available on YouTube thought the III channel) that are related to the core value III stands for: dedication to the development and improvement of legal systems and processes that govern domestic and international insolvencies and business restructurings in order to promote economic wellbeing, investment, and the efficient administration of justice. These are beautiful, big words, but how can they be put into the unruly and complex practice? The videos produced by
26 the International Insolvency Institute ' s Model Law @ Work Thought Leadership Committee
aim to achieve just that: their simple aim is to further contribute to the understanding of the laws and the improvement of practices of crossborder insolvencies and restructurings, with a focus on the themes covered by UNCITRAL ' s Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency( MLCBI).
I’ ll give you a short overview: these videos start off with a general Introduction to the series of videos, the core theme being crossborder insolvency law. The videos also cover an analytical Introduction of the MLCBI, including a version with subtitles in Spanish. Topics also include issues regarding enactment of the MLCBI in national legislations in Bahrein, Brazil, Greece and Singapore, insights regarding
cross-border insolvency laws in Japan and Hong Kong, and- in Spanish- developments and thought leadership issues in Latin-America. All in all, this represents the beginning of a fantastic collection of cross-border material that has already been viewed hundreds of times. My personal call to you, as reader of this contribution: use these videos, refer to them to law students or young lawyers in your area or to this information, or repost this contribution, if only for the benefit of all your colleagues around the globe. Or recommend them to foreign experts, colleagues or contacts in your network, for them to look at personally or to pass on the information to members of their country ' s legislatures to give them a solid basis for legislative initiatives on the inherently difficult subject of cross-border insolvency law. You can refer to III, see www. iiiglobal. org and its references and sources, here.
Responding to new needs
Why is III doing this? That’ s easy: a third phase in the development of international insolvency law is topical. Whereas regulation until the end of the last century- if it existed at all(!)- was based on national unilateral cross-border insolvency systems( USA; UK) or general private international law( conflictsof-law rules), the second phase entered a new era. It was characterized by national regulation based on transnational exchange of ideas, leading to non-binding soft law approaches. The UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency of 1997 was of course the most striking example. The breakthrough came in the beginning of this century, with MLCBI supporters USA and UK in 2005 and 2006 enacting the large part of the MLCBI text into
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