May, 2019
In an increasingly global world, it is imperative that emerging economies create enabling environments for sustainable development, and engage with the creation of legal and economic systems at the international level. While many have embarked upon the modernisation of their commercial laws and policies, the reforms have often struggled to achieve stated goals. A notable reason for the ineffectiveness of the reforms is the mismatch between the newly introduced laws and the realities on the ground. Many policy-makers in these economies also fail to understand the principles at play in the international order or how to internalise them effectively. The Commercial Law Research Network – Nigeria (CLRN_N) has been created to address the challenge of ineffective commercial law reform and policy in the emerging world. It brings together researchers interested in the development of commercial law and policy in the emerging world, and uses Nigeria, the largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, as a case study. The three main objectives of the CLRN_N are:
(i) to promote high quality research on commercial law reform in emerging economies (with Nigeria as a case study),
(ii) to influence commercial law and policy by enabling engagement between researchers and stakeholders,
(iii) to promote the development of the next generation of researchers through research methodology training. Participation is open to everyone interested in engaging with these issues.
Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research Networking Scheme, the CLRN_N will host its inaugural conference on the 13th and 14th September 2019, at the University of Reading. It invites submissions on commercial law and policy reform in Nigeria, and/or how Nigerian commercial law and reform policy may engage with international principles in the following areas:
- Company Law, Insolvency Law and Secured Transactions Law
- International Trade Law and International Economic Law
- Intellectual Property Law
- International Arbitration
- Oil and Gas/Energy Law
- Commercial Law broadly-speaking
CLRN_N will also host its inaugural Early Careers Methodology Workshop on the 13th of September 2019, at the University of Reading. We encourage participation from doctoral and early career researchers.
All abstracts are due on the 9th of August 2019. Full details on both events can be found in the attached flyers. Further inquiries should be sent to Dr. Bolanle Adebola: b.adebola@reading.ac.uk. Please share this email widely with colleagues and contacts who would be interested in attending or presenting at the conference and workshop. Further details, including how to register for this free event, will be published in due course. We look forward to hearing from you. Dr Bolanle Adebola (for CLRN_N)