Chinese Private Law Talk Series

The Validation Principle and the Choice-of-Law Enquiry

Date & Time: April 25, 2025 (Friday) 11:00-12:00

Venue: Room 901, 9/F, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, The University of Hong Kong

Language: English

(In-person event)

Abstract:

When interpreting legal documents such contracts or trust deeds, in a purely domestic case, common courts typically favour an interpretation which upholds the relevant instrument, or the contentious provision within it. This long-running practice, reflected in the maxim “verba ita sunt intelligenda ut res magis valeat quam pereat”, is today widely known as the “validation principle”. The paper seeks to evaluate the role of the validation principle in private-international-law claims, chiefly when addressing the question of which law governs cross-border contractual or trust disputes.

Speaker:

Dr Ardavan Arzandeh is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore. His principal research expertise is in commercial conflict of laws. Dr Arzandeh is the author of Forum (Non) Conveniens in England: Past, Present, and Future (Hart Publishing: 2018) and a number of articles in prestigious law journals in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Singapore – including, the Cambridge Law Journal, the Law Quarterly Review, Legal Studies, the International & Comparative Law Quarterly,  the Melbourne University Law Review, Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, and the Journal of Private International Law. His work has been cited by the UK Supreme Court, the US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, and the High Court of Hong Kong. 

Chair:
Professor Kelvin Low is Professor of the Faculty of Law at The University of Hong Kong.

This is an in-person only event for the audience. Prior registration is required. Please visit https://bit.ly/42oYw8N to register. For inquiries, please email Louisa at .

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