In the past two years, the pandemic has turned the world upside down and changed the way we conduct our affairs and business. The COVID-19 pandemic lingers unto this very day – its impact has long outlived what its name bears. While the medical sector has been endeavoring to battle against the virus to save human lives, the business sector has been striving to thrive against all odds. How about the legal sector? What is our response?

As the China-US trade negotiations are restarting, the WTO is being revitalised and the business community is looking forward to the extension of application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) to the Hong Kong SAR, the 2021 Colloquium on International Law is to be held under the theme ‘Development of International Trade Law in the [Post-]Pandemic Era’, examining the applicability of the current provisions during the pandemic time as well as afterwards.

With the keynote speeches addressing the public international law aspects, the panel entitled ‘The Quest for Common Codes in Effective Dispute Resolution’ will be concentrating on the area of private international law. The choice of this focus stems from the desire of the extension of the application of the CISG to the Hong Kong SAR and the Hong Kong SAR’s proactive integration into the National 14th Five-Year Plan to make the city a global international dispute resolution centre. Apart from the CISG, there will be many aspects of private law which could, in the future, be fashioned into common codes and incorporated in future commercial contracts involving the Hong Kong SAR as well as other entities of the Greater Bay Area.