On Friday 18th and Monday 21st of October respectively, two conferences were held to honour the memory of late UNIDROIT President Professor Alberto Mazzoni. The first conference, entitled “Dialoghi con Alberto Mazzoni” was organised by the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan and focused on remembering him as an academic through the interpretation of his publications by faculty members of the Catholic University as well as from other Universities. The conference was opened by Professor Elena Becalli, Dean of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Professor Antonella Occhino, Head of the Faculty of Economics, and Professor Alessandro D’Adda, Director of the Law Department. The panels addressed the themes of business law (chaired by Professor Mario Libertini, of Sapienza University of Rome), corporate law (chaired by Prof. Carlo Angelici, of Sapienza University of Rome), complex corporate structures (chaired by Professor Piergaetano Marchetti, Bocconi University), and corporate crisis and insolvency ( chaired by Professor Vincenzo Di Cataldo, University of Catania). UNIDROIT Secretary-General Ignacio Tirado provided closing remarks.
The second conference, held at the seat of UNIDROIT in Rome and sponsored by Assonime, was entitled “An Italian jurist shaping transnational law”, and painted a picture of the late President in his role as both a negotiator and as President of the Institute over three sessions. The first session was on international contracts and arbitration with Mr Stefano Azzali (Director General – Chamber of Arbitration of Milan), Mr Yves Derains (Founding partner – Derains & Gharavi), and Mr José Angelo Estrella Faria (Principal Legal Officer and Head of the Legislative Branch of the International Trade Law Division, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs) and chaired by Deputy Secretary-General Anna Veneziano. The second session addressed cross-border insolvency with Professor Christopher Paulus (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Professor Janis Sarra (Emeritus, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia), and Professor Ronald Davis (Emeritus, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia), chaired by Secretary-General Ignacio Tirado. The final panel was chaired by UNIDROIT Governing Council member Professor Stefania Bariatti of the University of Milan and was on financial markets and security interests, featuring Ms Margherita Bianchini (Deputy Director General and Area Head – Company Law, ASSONIME), Ms Monica Marcucci (Legal Counsel, Italian Institute for the Supervision of Insurance – IVASS), and Professor Riz Mokal (South Square Chambers) .
The event featured not only words of welcome by UNIDROIT President Maria Chiara Malaguti and Secretary-General Ignacio Tirado, but was honoured by the opening words of Minister Pasquale Velotti, who represented the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an expression of the Institutional recognition of President Mazzoni’s work for the Italian Government.
Both events (programmes below) were attended by Professor Alberto Mazzoni’s family, and featured the heartfelt contributions of eminent practitioners and scholars who not only reflected on his legacy, but also on what would have been his indications for the future.
10a bozza 18.10.24 DIALOGHI CON ALBERTO MAZZONI loca-1 Programme 21 October 2024-1