Transnational Commercial Leasing Law

Symposia and Events

The project hosts regular symposia to facilitate high-level dialogue on critical legal issues:

• The Future of International Leasing: An exploration of the economic impact of leasing, liability of lessors, conflict of laws, and insolvency issues.

• International Litigation in Ireland: A comparative analysis of Irish, English, and New York law, covering litigation funding, assignment of causes of action, and the enforcement of foreign judgments.

• International Moot Court: In conjunction with the Cape Town Convention Academic Project (CTCAP), the project hosts moot court events focusing on cross-border insolvency and the Aircraft Protocol.

First Symposium

The first symposium under the project on the ‘past, present, and future of the international leasing of personal property’ was held on 16 January 2025. It had these sub-parts:

(a)    nature, history, and economic impact of leasing

(b)    liability of lessors and lessee for damage to third parties caused by leased property

(c)    conflict of laws issues in international leasing transactions

(d)    insolvency issues in international leasing transactions

It was attended by members of the project’s participatory advisory board (PAB), which include representatives from leading legal and commercial Irish companies, AWG’s Irish contact group, Trinity College Dublin faculty members, and all student associates (see below). 

Symposium 1 : Transnational Commercial Leasing Law

Second Symposium

The second symposium under the project – on ‘International litigation in Ireland – comparative perspectives’ was held on 25 June 2025.

It involved making a comparison between Irish, English, and New York law on the topics listed below

The substantive rules and their related rationale were set out in a skeletal outline for each topic – prepared by the firms in the Irish Contact Group

1. The public availability of pleadings and submissions (lack of public dockets) (Mathesons)
2. Right to assign a cause of action (Mason Hayes & Curran) with comments by Commissioner Collins
3. Litigation funding (the facility or lack thereof) (Arthur Cox)
4. Recognition and enforcement of judgments (McCann FitzGerald)

• Substantive rule
• Grounds for non-recognition and non-enforcement 

Symposium 2 : Transnational Commercial Leasing Law

Related event In conjunction with the second symposium, an international moot court event on under the Cape Town Convention and its Aircraft Protocol (CTC) was held. That event (Irish CTC moot), on a cross-border insolvency problem, was friendly between teams fielded by Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin Faculties of Law.

The Irish CTC moot was held under the auspices of the Cape Town Convention Academic Project (CTCAP), which is a joint undertaking between UNIDROIT and the University of Cambridge, with the Aviation Working Group as a founding sponsor.