The University of Cambridge Faculty of Law (Cambridge), the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), and the Aviation Working Group (AWG) are pleased to announce their agreement to continue the work of the Cape Town Convention Academic Project (CTCAP). The CTCAP will be continued under the joint auspices of Cambridge and UNIDROIT, with AWG noted as the founding sponsor.
The Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (together with its various protocols, the Cape Town Convention) has established itself as a major treaty system in the field of transnational commercial law. The CTCAP provides for academic study and assessment of the Cape Town Convention, seeking to advance the understanding and effective implementation of, and compliance with, the treaty. The CTCAP will be strengthened by the inclusion of related joint projects for (1) economic assessment of international commercial law reform, and (2) best practices in the design and operation of electronic registries, without limiting their independent identities or the scope of activities of these projects.
The CTCAP, including these projects, will be directed by Jeffrey Wool and their academic lead will be Louise Gullifer. The CTCAP will operate within the Cambridge Faculty of Law under the auspices of the Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law. Professor Sir Roy Goode (Oxford) and Robert Cowan (Aviereto) are senior advisers to the project.
The Cape Town Convention provides a transnational legal regime for secured financing of mobile equipment, including registration in an international registry and harmonised rules on creation, priorities and enforcement. The Aircraft Protocol, which applies this regime to the financing of airframes, aircraft engines and helicopters, has been ratified by 76 countries. There are also protocols relating to the rail rolling stock and space assets. A new Protocol covering mining, agricultural and construction equipment was adopted at a Diplomatic Conference in Pretoria on 22 November, at which Louise Gullifer was part of the UK delegation.