VIII Saint Petersburg International Legal Forum
May 16-18, 2018
In 2018 the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum saw over 4500 participants. This year’s Forum was attended by a record number of 90 countries representing all continents. Participating countries included Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, Greece, Egypt, the Netherlands, UAE, Pakistan, Portugal, US, Finland, France and Japan.
The Forum received 95 official delegations from overseas Ministries of Justice, Supreme and Constitutional Courts. Among the foreign guests of honour at the VIII SPBILF were 14 Chief Justices of Constitutional Courts, 13 Chief Justices of Supreme Courts, and 16 Ministers or Deputy Ministers of Justice.
In total, 115 business events were held within the framework of the Forum: conferences, presentations, lectures, as well as discussion sessions. About 500 representatives of over 140 mass media, including leading news agencies, television and radio companies, print and online publications, were accredited to work at the Forum.
On May 15, 2018, the first solemn Ceremony to announce the winner of the Prize of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum in the field of private law, a scientific award that has no analogues both in Russia and abroad, which was established within the framework of the VII Forum, took place in the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic named after D. D. Shostakovich. Several dozen works of lawyers representing leading law faculties of the planet were submitted to the competition. The Award Expert Council included world-class scientists who spearhead the development of modern legal science. The prize was awarded to Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Nottingham, Nottingham (UK) Orshoya Toth for his work on the topic: "Lex Mercatoria in theory and practice". A concert by pianist Dmitry Alekseev, known by connoisseurs as the brightest performer and subtle interpreter of Chopin in the world, was the final chord of the ceremony for the Forum participants.
The Forum traditionally culminated with a Grand Gala dinner. In 2018, the slogan of the dinner was 'On the circus ring tonight', with the dinner taking place in Manezh Central Exhibition Hall on St Isaac’s Square. Under the dome of an improvised circus, the delegates enjoyed the performance by aerialists Abakarova and Sychev, winners of the coveted Golden Clown award, and El Gamma Penumbra shadow play group, winners of Asia’s Got Talent show.
Forum video reports: