The Forum was attended by over 40 jurisdictions most of which are at a very senior level enabling important wider formal and informal conversations and relationship building both inside and outside the meeting. Delegations include senior judges (some Chief Justices) from South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Cameroon, The Gambia, the Commonwealth, and the G20.
The SIFoCC is a forum that brings together the world’s commercial and appellate courts to facilitate judicial collaboration and cooperation between jurisdictions. This event is hosted every eighteen months, in different host member jurisdictions, where Judges representing each member jurisdiction convene together in person, where possible, for a Full Meeting. Over the last 5 years, SIFoCC has held full meetings in London (2017), New York (2019), Singapore (2021) and Sydney (2022).
The path from one full meeting to the next is expressed in a roadmap identifying four key themes: Developing the Relationship between Commercial Courts, Arbitration and Mediation, towards greater transnational judicial cooperation, Technology and AI in Dispute Resolution, Climate change-ESG, corporate activity and the rule of law, which are set by the Steering Group. The Full Meeting attended by member delegations comprises a unique two-day roundtable discussion, which elaborates on these key themes.
In preparation for and between full meetings, the themes above are developed through online discussions, international working groups, or at SIFoCC’s participation in other conferences. The forum provides an excellent opportunity for judiciaries to build important and lasting relationships.
Where suitable, SIFoCC prepares publications, develops and provides clarity on international best practices. These have included International Case Management Principles and a Multilateral Memorandum on the Enforcement of Commercial Judgments for Money. SIFoCC also runs a Judicial Observation Programme, an intensive one-week training programme in the commercial courts of another SIFoCC host jurisdiction.
The roundtable judicial discussion would include an important session on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), exchanging ideas and experiences, and opportunities for the future relationship between courts and arbitration and mediation. Other sessions would include an advanced look at AI in society and the law, at corporate legal responsibility including in the context of climate change, and at international cooperation between judiciaries in key areas from jurisdiction to competition to intellectual property to insolvency. There would be consideration of case management and commercial litigation funding. All these themes were chosen because of their critical importance to the future, nationally and internationally.
As part of his sideline engagements, his Lordship, Hon. Justice Hassan B. Jallow with his delegation on the 23rd of April 2024 met the Qatari Attorney General, H.E Dr. Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi in Doha, Qatar to exchange views on several topics of common interest and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in the legal and judicial field and the exchange of experiences. The Hon. CJ also used the opportunity to hold discussions with the Qatari Chief Justice to discuss support for the implementation of the Judiciary’s strategic plan.
