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Singapore Convention on Mediation

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The signing ceremony for the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation was held on 7 August 2019 in Singapore.

The United Nations is an intergovernmental organisation whose purpose is to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations.

There is a great expectancy by the players involved in international commercial disputes concerning what really wait from this point in the mediation international scenario.

It is true that the Convention is a milestone. An international convention is very likely to bring us various benefits, and contribute with the development of mediation as an adequate method of dispute resolution in the international arena.

Many users are expecting the same positive effects that New York Convention has brought to arbitration.

The text of the Convention gives a wide interpretation of the term Mediation and sets grounds under which the recognition and enforcement of the agreement could be denied by State courts.

It seems there will be no more excuses not to consider Mediation as an option for the ones who are involved in actual our potential conflicts.

Singapura is giving us the example, by leading an International Mediation Competition during the week of the Singapore Convention signature, and, thus, putting together many of the young generation representatives, that will be soon dealing with international dispute resolution.

Administrative Council of Tax Appeals Discusses Binding Precedent

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The Administrative Council of Tax Appeals (CARF) is the most relevant administrative body for judging disputes of a tax nature in Brazil and is responsible for analysing disputes involving federal taxes, including income taxes, corporate taxes, tax treaties, transfer pricing, etc.

In an directive published this Tuesday, the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals proposes fifty binding precedent, among which is the Summary 49, by which “the cargo agent and the maritime agent, as representatives in the Brazil for the international carrier shall be liable for infringements committed in the carriage of goods ”.

The draft may be approved at an extraordinary session at CARF’s headquarters on September 3.

In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and interpreting law.

This is another chapter in the long battle fought between the Tax Authority and ship agents- who suffer from the fact that the Federal Revenue imposes on them fines that should be aimed at the carrier / shipowners.

The summary statement proposed by CARF intends to give final contours to the imbroglio, but in a completely unfavourable outcome to ship agents – an essential figure for international maritime transport.

As agents of foreign shipowners who carry out international transport, ship agents perform the all-important task of dealing directly with the complex intricacies of the Brazilian bureaucracy.

In this regard, considering PROMARE’s mission to promote foreign trade, shipping mentality and Legal Certainty in and outside the courts, we express our utter disagreement about the CARF’s directive and proposed biding precedent.

Thus, in order to discuss and argue against the proposed biding precedent our office will attend the session at which CARF will deliberate on the approval.

Attorney Ron D. Herman Joins Water Advisory Board

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Attorney Ron D. Herman is a seasoned criminal defence lawyer who is respected by judges, prosecutors, and fellow attorneys. That is why most of the firm’s clients come to us referred from another lawyer or professional in the community.

Ron is honoured to be appointed by Keith James, the Mayor of the City of West Palm Beach to the City’s Water Advisory Board.

The Advisory Board serves the City Commission on matters relating to long-range planning for the City’s public water system and the development, use and management of water resources within the City.

The oldest city in South Florida, West Palm Beach is also the largest city in the County and is where many businesses are headquartered.

As a long standing small business owner in the City, Ron Herman is honoured to serve the City, and looks forward to helping lead this important conversation. Ron’s appointment to the Board is for a 2 year term.

Herman Law, P.A., where Ron defends complex cases, with experience representing companies and professionals fighting government investigations. Ron has extensive trial experience and has handled more than 150 jury trials during his esteemed career.

Ron’s prior experience includes working as a skilled prosecutor in Palm Beach and Broward Counties for over six years.

At the State Attorney’s Office, Ron was promoted several times to become division lead of the Felony, DUI, and Domestic Violence Units, and was eventually tapped to be part of the coveted Crimes Against Children Unit.

By concentrating on complex, high stakes white collar cases, the firm provides each client concierge-level service and attention.

Raising the Awareness of Engineering Ethics

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Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that “involves systematising, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behaviour”. The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns matters of value; these fields comprise the branch of philosophy called axiology.

Engineering Ethics 2028 describes a proposed new ethical framework for the profession and how it can be introduced over the next nine years. It says the fundamental duty of an engineer should be to serve the public interest.

The vision was developed by ethicists at the University of Leeds.

One of the big issues, though, is that the majority of engineers, around three million people, are not affiliated with a professional engineering institution, and fall outside of any professional oversight.

Have Your Say:

Do you want to comment on Engineering Ethics 2028? By clicking on the link, you can read the vision and have your say on its contents.

Engineering Ethics 2028 was drawn-up following discussion with leaders from the engineering profession, including the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Engineering Professors’ Council and Engineers Without Borders UK.

The vision builds on work that started back in 2003 by the RAEng to define the ethical values underlying engineering work. Two years later, the RAEng and Engineering Council jointly published their Statement of Ethical Principles.

But in 2016, a major review into the structure of United Kingdom engineering was undertaken by John Uff QC. He quoted estimates that only 15% of engineers, around one in six, were members of a professional body.

Ethical Vision:

The proposed vision says efforts need to be targeted at bringing more engineers “…within the boundaries of the profession.”

The recent inquiry chaired by the engineer Dame Judith Hackitt into building regulations, established after the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, identified a lack of any formal process to validate the skills of people involved in the management of high-rise buildings as a major flaw in the regulatory system.

Engineering Ethics 2028 was drawn up following discussions with the Engineering Council, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Engineering Professors’ Council and Engineers without Borders UK.

Engineers and engineering organisations can comment on the consultation up to January 25th 2020.

Politicians Try Mending Relationship With Business

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Politicians in the United Kingdom have moved to rebuild their relationship with the business community by hiring Sky executive Andrew Griffiths, as part of Number 10 team.

A source close to Griffiths said Johnson’s appointment of the Sky veteran – who most recently served as the broadcasting giant’s chief operating officer – was “a clear sign of intent” that the former mayor of London wants to build fresh links with the City and businesses across the United Kingdom.

However, the relationship may already be thawing with most business groups giving a cautious welcome to the incoming resident of Number 10 yesterday.

The British Chamber of Commerce was also quick to send its regards, but again warned about the consequences of crashing out of the bloc.

The message to Boris Johnson from business communities around the United Kingdom couldn’t be simpler: the time for campaigning is over — and we need you to get down to business.

Companies need to know, in concrete terms, what your government will do to avoid a messy, disorderly Brexit on 31 October – which would bring pain to communities across the United Kingdom and disruption to our trade around the world.

Business lobby group the CBI echoed other calls for a pro-business Brexit deal, but also on support for infrastructure projects to boost businesses across the country.

Johnson has previously voiced opposition two of the country’s most ambitious infrastructure projects: Heathrow airport expansion and the HS2 rail project.

The pound dropped to $1.247, after the membership ballot result naming Johnson as leader was announced.

As Michael Brown, senior analyst at Caxton FX explains, this was largely due to the fact that the likelihood of Johnson victory had already been priced in.

In the run-up to the announcement a number of businesses had been nervous about the prospect of a Johnson premiership, due to the former London mayor’s insistence that he would take the United Kingdom out of the European Union with or without a deal by the 31 October.

New Consulting Partners Join Deloitte France

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If you are ready to innovate and transform your business, Deloitte France can help you imagine, create and control your future, whatever your business, thanks to next-generation technologies covering strategy development as well as implementation.

Both new partners have been at Deloitte for between six months to one and a half years, and after demonstrating their track record externally and internally, they have been promoted to senior partner and admitted into Monitor Deloitte’s ranks.

Monitor Deloitte is the strategy consulting brand of Deloitte Consulting, established in 2012 after Deloitte acquired Monitor Group, a boutique United States headquartered strategic consultancy that was founded by among others strategy guru Michael Porter.

Hélène Chaplain is a senior partner in the firm’s Digital Strategy and Innovation practice, and is the leader of Deloitte’s wider Consumer Business industry segment, which spans services to clients in the automotive, consumer goods, retail, transportation and hospitality industries. She previously spent 17 years at Accenture, since 2001 in the role of partner.

In her most recent roles, Chaplain served as Accenture France’s industry lead for consumer goods and was head of the firm’s digital consulting arm for clients in the products landscape.

Mathieu Colas is a senior partner in charge of Monitor Deloitte’s automotive and new mobility offerings. He started his career with Deloitte at Deloitte Digital – the Big Four firm’s rapidly growing digital wing – and previously spent four years at Capgemini Invent and over a decade at Oliver Wyman.

Colas focuses on topics including strategy, large-scale transformation, emerging technologies, advanced analytics and digital transformation.

As part of their new roles, both Colas and Chaplain joined Monitor Deloitte’s annual offsite in June. During the three day trip to Biarritz in the south of France, the firm’s leadership walked through the year’s top accomplishments and the ambitions for the current financial year. Meanwhile, consultants were provided the room to network, share experiences and best practices and enjoy the region’s sunny weather and culinary culture.

Last year, Monitor Deloitte France added Olivier Perrin, a former Accenture Strategy partner, to its leadership ranks in Paris.