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4. News from the National Chapters
AUSTRALIA
2005 Australian Insurance Law Association Annual Conference
The 2005 Australian Insurance Law Association annual conference, from November 9 to November 12, will be hosted on the island of Tasmania, in the capital city, Hobart. Tasmania is renowned for its wilderness and scenic beauty, its wines and seafood, and its historic past.
View of Hobart, host City for the 2005 AILA conference, from the pinnacle of Mount Wellington
Justice Peter Underwood, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania, has agreed to present a keynote paper at the conference. Other confirmed keynote speakers include Professor Greg Reinhardt, Greg Pynt and Fred Hawke.
The programme will feature five keynote papers. Three papers will be presented on the Thursday, and two on the Friday. The Thursday papers will be followed by practical break-out sessions, and the Friday papers by a series of concurrent workshop streams. Each workshop will be repeated twice over three hours, to enable all delegates to attend the workshops that most interest them.
An array of social events has been arranged, starting with breakfast on the majestic Mount Wellington, which overlooks Hobart and the Derwent River. There will be a cocktail party reception on the Wednesday night and a seafood feast on the Thursday night. When the workshops finish on Friday, November 11, delegates and partners will travel to Bellerive Oval, Hobart's test cricket venue on the shores of the Derwent River, to enjoy a tasting session of premium Tasmanian wines.
On Saturday, delegates are invited to enjoy a boat cruise to the historic former penal station Port Arthur. Port Arthur was the major penal settlement for Great Britain in the early to mid-19th century and much of the area remains intact, including some buildings that survived the abandonment of the settlement and the ravages of subsequent bushfires. It is a haunting place; not just because of its history, but because of the sheer beauty of the area and its physical grandeur.
International guests are very welcome to attend the conference. Please register your interest at www.aila.com.au.
CILA/MEXICO
IX CILA Congress
The Ibero Latin American Committee of AIDA (Comité Iberolatinoamericano de AIDA, “CILA”) will be holding the IX CILA Congress from 2-5 of November 2005, in Cancun, Mexico. The Mexican National Chapter is hosting the event which will be held at the Hilton Cancun Hotel and will mark the 45th Anniversary of the formation of AIDA. This venue for the Congress is equipped with an 18-hole golf course and is situated on the beach, 15 minutes away from the international airport of Cancun.
The Mexican Chapter have organised a programme of presentations for delegates, plus a programme of activities for accompanying guests. Congress presentation topics include, ‘The law applying to reinsurance contracts’, ‘The solution of conflicts in insurance and reinsurance: arbitration or ordinary jurisdiction?’, ‘Moral damage in health insurance’, ‘Claims control clauses and cut through: denaturalisation of the reinsurance contract?’, ‘Personal Insurance and the human genome’ and ‘Regulation to prevent the use of resources from illicit origins and its impact on the insurance and finance sectors’.
Further details, including a full programme of events, can be viewed at the specially designed IX CILA Congress website at www.cila-amdsf.org. Alternatively, contact the following with queries regarding the Congress: Bertha Alpízar (balpizar@gares.com.mx), Silvia Yánez (syanez@gares.com.mx) or Marcela Valencia Durán (mvalencia@fianzasmonterrey.com.mx).
PORTUGAL
The recently reactivated Portuguese Section of AIDA has launched a new electronic newsletter. The first edition of this newsletter, ‘SPAIDA Boletim Informativo’, was distributed in June 2005. Click on the link below to view (Adobe Acrobat required).
SPAIDA Boletim Informativo, No 1, June 2005
SINGAPORE
Conference in Singapore on “Insurance & Reinsurance Dispute Settlement and Arbitration in Asia” - 1st - 2nd June 2005
This conference was organised by the Asia Insurance Review with the support of AIDA, IDRO (The Insurance Dispute Resolution Organisation), the Insurance Law Association of Singapore, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and the Hong Kong Mediation Counsel. Barlow Lyde & Gilbert were the lead sponsors of the conference which was attended by more than 100 delegates from Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Taiwan.
The conference was chaired by Yvonne Jefferies, a partner in the Reinsurance & International Risk team of Barlow Lyde & Gilbert. Michael Gill, of Phillips Fox, Sydney and Vice-President of AIDA delivered a key note address on “Global Challenges and Issues in Insurance and Reinsurance Disputes”. The other key note address was given by Mr Phillip Yang, chairman of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, providing an overview of insurance disputes and arbitration in Hong Kong and the rest of the world. There were also addresses from key figures in the Singapore Insurance Industry including Derek Teo, the President of the General Insurance Association of Singapore; Lawrence Boo, Deputy Chairman of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and Philip Jeyaratnam, the President of the Law Society of Singapore. The topics covered by other speakers included a comparison of litigation, arbitration and mediation as methods of dispute resolution in insurance and reinsurance. This was delivered by Camille Jojo, managing partner of BLG’s Hong Kong office. Ed Stanley, a Reinsurance & International Risk team partner at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert delivered a highly amusing paper outlining tips on strategy once an arbitration dispute arises and Yvonne Jefferies spoke on reinsurance points to watch in the context of claims control and follow settlements clauses.
The highlight of the conference was a mock arbitration which took up the afternoon of the second day of the conference. It involved a fictional reinsurance claim designed to put into practice some of the points discussed throughout the conference. Delegates were split into opposing groups of reinsureds and reinsurers to consider their dispute resolution strategy. The reinsureds’ witness was the broker, whose role was stoutly performed by Mr Shiva Iyer, a director of Aon Re Asia. Despite heavy cross-examination, he gave nothing away. The reinsurers’ underwriter, played by Charles Catt, director of Reinsurance Recoveries, treated delegates to a hilarious performance with various “confessions”, demonstrating how a good case on paper can be severely damaged when witnesses are not adequately prepared for cross-examination.
The delegate groups then transformed themselves into arbitrators to decide upon the evidence with Mr Lawrence Boo sitting as a fifth arbitrator. After heated discussion and debate, the delegate groups were split down the middle in terms of verdict, leaving the casting vote to Mr Boo who delivered a verdict in favour of the Reinsureds.
The conference proved to be a great success, and many interesting issues were discussed.
Yvonne Jefferies
Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, London
SOUTH AFRICA
Meeting of the South African Chapter of AIDA
The South African Chapter of AIDA, the South African Insurance Law Association, will meet in Johannesburg on 25 August 2005. The meeting forms part of one of the sessions of a Workshop on Consumer Protection in Commercial Law presented by the Department of Mercantile Law at the University of South Africa. At the session, addresses will be delivered by the Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance, Mr Justice PM Nienaber (on the Office of the Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance) and by Johannesburg Attorney Patrick Bracher (on the Equality Act and Insurance). The Workshop takes place at the Nedcor Sandton Auditorium, Ground Floor, Retail Place West, 135 Rivonia Rd, Sandton. The registration fee for attending the Workshop session on Insurance law is R500,00. This fee includes a hard copy and CD of all the papers delivered at the Workshop, mid-afternoon coffee and refreshments and cocktails afterwards. For further details, contact Ms Moira Roux at (012) 429-8432 or Ms Jacqui de Beer at (012) 429-8774.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Under the patronage of
Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al-Qasimi
Minister of Economy & Planning
United Arab Emirates
Co-ordination Commission for Gulf Insurance & Reinsurance Companies
In conjunction with
Emirates Insurance Association
In Co-ordination with
General Arab Insurance Federation (GAIF)
"The Second Annual Gulf Insurance Forum"
Monday 28 - Tuesday 29 November 2005
Al Muroog Rotana Hotel (Grand Ballroom), Dubai
For further details including the formal invitation, forum programme, hotel list
and registration form, please click on this link.
UNITED STATES
US
Members of the US Chapter are busy planning new programmes. T Richard Kennedy has agreed to resume the Presidency of the Chapter in addition to serving on AIDA's Presidential Council. Stephen Acunto, Sr is serving as Executive Director. A meeting is planned for the Autumn to elect new officers and to consider proposed programmes, including a World Conference on Insurance and Reinsurance Dispute Resolution to be held in 2006.
Information regarding the US Chapter can be obtained by contacting T Richard Kennedy, trk@trichardkennedy.com, or Stephen Acunto, sa@cinn.com.
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