The Reefs and the Layers of SpoondriftLegal English Workshop on Contract Drafting, Part 1 礁石与朵朵浪花——法律英语研讨会之合同起草（一） In collaboration of with China Academy of Arbitration Law (CAAL), Beijing Linli Law Office had an international legal English workshop online connecting to students from Zhejiang University, University of International Business and Economy (UIBE), University of China Academy of Social Science (UCASS), and University of Mandalay in Myanmar on December 16, 2020. 北京霖理律师事务所与中国仲裁法学研究会合作的国际法律英语研讨会于2020年12月16日与来自浙江大学、对外经济贸易大学、中国社会科学院大学以及缅甸曼德勒大学的学生举行了连线学习交流活动。 The workshop invited student presenters on four subjects in relation to contract drafting, followed by commentators from the practical and teaching field in the area of alternative dispute resolution. The four subjects are general contract drafting principles in the context of international trade and investment, seller’s obligation on quality of the goods, contractual justice in setting time lines in contract, and arbitration clauses and drafting notes. 法律英语研讨会邀请四位学生代表就与合同起草相关的四个主题进行发言，随后由来自替代性争议解决领域从事实务和教学工作的评论员进行点评。四个主题分别是在国际贸易与投资语境中合同起草之主要原则，卖方对货物品质的责任，合同条款中时间线的契约正义，仲裁条款与起草要点。 The first presenter was Ms. Amina Akperlinova, who is an SJD Candidate from Zhejiang University. Her topic for this workshop was How To Draft Contracts Well: Main Principles Of Contract Drafting in The Context Of Trade and Investment. Focusing on the basic principles and structures of contract drafting, Amina covered a wide range of significant points, including general definition, drafting techniques and language, fundamentals, the drafting and contract making process, content, revising, and practical tips. 第一个发言者是来自浙江大学的在读法学博士阿米娜·阿克珀利诺娃（Amina Akperlinova）。她本次发言的主题是在国际贸易与投资语境中合同起草之主要原则。围绕合同起草的基本原则和结构，她比较全面的地讲述了其中的重要核心问题，包括一般定义，起草技巧和语言，合同基础，起草和订约流程，合同内容，修改和一些实用建议。 By discussing cases and comparing legislations, Amina provided an overview of the legal and linguistic approach to contract drafting. In the context of both domestic and international law, she explained basic terms and comprehensive components of a successful contract and identified common mistakes in different phases. In the globalized world where trades and investments are active and inevitable, it is essential to have a grasp of not just legal terms and relations, but also the approach to use them in contracts. She outlined this process and provided a basic guideline regarding effective contract drafting, aiming at providing law students and young legal professionals who have obtained traditional contract law knowledge with the tools in a more practical area. 通过个案讨论和法系比较，阿米娜从法律上与语言上为我们纵览介绍了起草合同的方法。她解释了在国内法和国际法的语境中基本的术语和合同成功起草的详尽要素，并提醒在不同阶段会出现的常见错误。身在贸易与投资日益活跃且不可或缺的全球化时代，仅仅掌握一些法律术语和法律关系是不够的，还要能够将其应用到具体合同里。她讲解了一个有效起草合同的流程和指南，目的是给已经掌握了传统合同法知识的法律系学生和年轻的执业律师提供一些更务实的工具。 The next presenter was Ms. Myo Su Thant, a graduate student from University of Mandalay, Myanmar. She talked about What Quality and Warranty Terms Seller Needs to Watch Out in Cross Border Sales Contract. The 40th anniversary of the enactment of the CISG has brought large discussions on its application and contributions to the commercial world. In this context, Myo Su introduced the seller’s obligation to provide a quality of goods in conformity with the standard provided in the contract and failure of which may amount to a breach of contract and liabilities. 下一位发言者是来自缅甸曼德勒大学的研究生缪苏丹特（Myo Su Thant）。她讲解了关于跨境买卖合同中卖方要注意的质量和质保条款问题。通过40周年的《联合国国际货物销售合同公约》（以下简称《公约》）引来众多关于其在全球商业中的应用与贡献的讨论。在此语境下，缪苏向我们介绍了卖家应提供与合同中规定品质一致货物的责任和因为做不到而要承担的违约责任。 At the outset, Myo Su identified the background and the coverage of the CISG in the context of international trade particularly in the RCEP and regional trade settings. She discussed in the following part the mode and time limit of delivery and specific qualifications of goods. Focusing mainly on the remedies in case of breach of contract, she discussed cases from Case Law on UNCITRAL Texts and analyzed three elements therein, aiming at providing an outline of the application of several articles of the CISG. Understanding the obligations that sellers ought to undertake as well as the remedies for buyers under the CISG are of significant importance when entering into a contract of international sales of goods. 缪苏首先指明《公约》在国际贸易背景中，特别是在东盟《区域全面伙伴经济关系协定》和区域贸易环境中的适用范围。她在之后的部分讨论了关于交货方式与时间的限制和货物的品质规格问题。她通过讨论《联合国贸易法委员会法规的判例法》中的案例与对其中三个典型部分的分析，着重强调了在违约情况下的救济问题，目的是给《公约》中几个条款的实际应用提供简要说明。在签订国际货物销售合同之前，对《公约》中关于卖方应负责任和买方可用救济的理解是非常重要的。 Mr. Xiong Zhiyuan as an undergraduate student from UCASS discussedContractual Justice in the Matter of Time Lines in Contract Provisions. He focused on contractual justice which seeks to achieve the substantive balance between the parties. There are two elements of the essence of justice—equality and fairness. In short, the essence of contractual justice is to guarantee the equality of legal status of both parties and achieve a fair balance between the parties’ interests. 来自中国社会科学院大学的本科生熊志远（Xiong Zhiyuan）讨论了合同条款中时间线的契约正义问题。他侧重在通过寻求并达成双方实质平衡以实现契约的正义。正义的本质有两个要素——平等和公平。简言之，契约正义的本质就是保证双方法律地位的平等和达成双方利益平衡之间的公平。 From the perspective of Article 38 and 39 (1) of CISG, on the one hand, the obligations for the buyer to examine the goods and to notify the non-conformity are in accordance with trade usages, and on the other hand, they are conducive to eliminating the inequality based on facts. He argued that these obligations are reasonable arrangements based on fair considerations. By analyzing the factors influencing the reasonableness of the time for notice of non-conformity, he reached a conclusion that the determination of the reasonableness of the time for notice is complicated and sometimes unpredictable. In that regard, he suggested the parties to stipulate the time for the notice of non-conformity in the contract with reference to trade usages, which may contribute to reducing the disputes arising from Article 39 (1). 从《公约》38条和39条（1）款的角度看，一方面，买方对货物检验和不合格告知的义务符合贸易惯例；另一方面，这些义务也利于消除基于事实的不平等。他试图表明这些义务是基于公平考量的合理安排。通过对影响货物不合格的合理告知时间因素的分析，他得出的结论是，合理告知时间之确定是很复杂的，有时是不可预见的。出于这方面的考虑，他建议双方参照贸易惯例明确规定货物不合格告知时间，这样可以有效减少自39条（1）款产生的争议。 The last presenter is Ms. Wang Wenqian, a graduate student from UIBE. Her topic was Arbitration Clauses and Drafting Notes. An arbitration clause is an agreement reached by parties to resolve their disputes through arbitration. To render the arbitration process more smoothly, it is essential to pay attention to the contractual language when drafting arbitration clauses, otherwise more disputes may be incurred by a poorly-drafted one. Wenqian in the presentation introduced the basic principles and importance of an arbitration agreement, with a view to identifing essential factors that need to be taken into consideration in the drafting stage. 最后一个发言者是来自对外经济贸易大学的研究生王文倩（Wang Wenqian）。她的主题是仲裁条款以及起草要点。仲裁条款就是双方达成协议通过仲裁解决争议。为了使仲裁提交程序更顺畅，应尤其注意起草仲裁条款时的合同措辞，否则更多的争议会缘自糟糕的合同文本自身。文倩发言中介绍了仲裁协议的基本原则和重要性，意图说明在合同起草阶段就需要考虑这些基本因素。 This presentation included three parts: the importance of a well-drafted arbitration agreement, model clauses of international institutions, and how to customize the model clauses. Focusing mainly on the third part, Wenqian further discussed the topic by mentioning the stake of contradicting with institutional rules, the number of arbitrators, place of arbitration with a special consideration of PRC laws, and the language of the arbitration. The notes that she provided aim at helping parties to come up with a good arbitration agreement, which needs to be commensurate with the scale and complexity of the transaction in disputes. 发言包括三个部分：仲裁协议文本起草的重要性，国际机构的示范条款，示范条款的个性化。文倩侧重于第三部分进一步讨论此话题，提到了与机构规则不相符的问题，还有仲裁员人数，中华人民共和国法律下仲裁地点的特别考虑，仲裁语言的选择等问题。她提出的几个要点目的是帮助双方达成一个好的仲裁协议，它应与合同交易的广泛性和复杂性相匹配。
The commentators，including Thomas Manson QC (Foreign Expert Instructor, Peking University), Dr. Fan Yang (Partner, Stephenson Harwood), Professor Zhang Xinjuan (UCASS), and Dr. Chen Jian (DSG, CAAL), made wonderful and detailed comments on the articles and encouraged the students to watch out the practical aspects of legal writing in addressing specific issues in contract drafting. The presenters replied to some of the comments with thanks and questions. The process of the workshop involved dialogues from presenters and commentators along with the agenda of the workshop. 现场点评人包括托马斯·曼森大律师（Thomas Manson QC，北京大学外国专家），扬帆博士（Dr. Yang Fan，罗夏信律师事务所合伙人），张新娟教授（Prof. Zhang Xinjuan，中国社会科学院大学），陈建博士（Dr. Chen Jian，中国仲裁法学研究会常务副秘书长），他们对发言者的文章给出了精彩且具体的点评，并鼓励同学们在起草合同中注意法律行文方面的实际问题。发言的同学对点评进行了答复致谢并回应了点评老师。发言者与点评人之间的对话贯穿于法律英语研讨会整个过程。 Some interesting questions were noted, as to how a contract is really made, by shaking hands or by concluding with offer and acceptance. Others include what are the basics of a contract, and the main terms. In a sales contract, what is a seller’s warranty – whether the term “warranty” should be used in the context of CISG, as the Convention deals with the conformity of goods with contractual specifications, without reference to the term “warranty”, and whether certain goods that are immoral, e.g., “bloody diamonds”, still can be categorized as conformity goods. The discussion centered on the legitimate requirement of being fit for particular purpose of the goods. 问答过程中还出现了一些有意思的问题，比如怎样才算合同真正生效，双方握手之后还是在要约与承诺有效时生效。其它问题还包括，合同和主要条款的基本因素是什么？买卖合同中什么是卖方质保，“质保”（Warranty）这一术语是否应该按《公约》中的意思使用，《公约》中只提及货物应与合同规格一致，并没有提及“Warranty”这一术语；另外某些不道德的货物，比如“血钻”是不是仍属于合规货物，讨论一直围绕特定用途的货物之合法要求。 A legal masterpiece such as “A Theory of Justice” by John Rawls was brought to the highlight in discussing the topic of contractual justice in the matter of timelines in the contract provisions. This touches on an important subject of how one views justice in the social, economic, and legal world. Attention could be paid to elements of such topics in the future workshops. 点评人在讨论合同条款中时间线的契约正义话题时提到一部法学名著，约翰·罗尔斯（John Rawls）的《正义论》。这触及了一个重要的主题，即一个人如何看待社会经济和法律世界中的正义问题。在将来的法律英语学习中，或许会有学生专注于类似的话题。 Arbitration clauses may vary depending on the nature of the arbitration, whether it is domestic arbitration or international arbitration. Hopefully, the equal treatment rule may apply when the new legislation on arbitration is to be discussed so that the domestic arbitration field will be dealt with to more closely mirror the international practice of arbitration. 仲裁条款会根据仲裁本身的性质而变化，无论是国内还是国际仲裁。希望在讨论新的仲裁法时，平等对待原则能被采用，这样国内仲裁领域中的处理方式将会更易于接轨国际仲裁实践。
Finally, we are thankful to the young presenters and experienced commentators for the unreserved contribution to the legal English workshop. The constant support from CAAL for the operation of the workshop is most appreciated in this workshop, like all others, without which the workshop might lose the reefs against which we see the layers of spoondrift. 最后，我们要感谢年轻的发言者以及经验丰富的点评老师对法律英语研讨会毫无保留的支持。非常感谢中国仲裁法学研究会在法律英语研讨会合作中不断给予的支持。如果没有大家的支持，这样的法律英语研讨会就好像茫茫大海中不见了礁石，同时也就见不到礁石上活蹦欢跳的朵朵浪花。
中国仲裁法学研究会China Academy of Arbitration Law中国仲裁法学研究会是在中国法学会、司法部、原国务院法制办和最高人民法院的大力支持下，由中国国际经济贸易仲裁委员会、中国海事仲裁委员会以及全国30家大中城市的国内仲裁委员会于2004年发起并成立的、唯一经民政部登记注册的全国性仲裁法学学术团体。是业务主管部门中国国际贸易促进委员会的直属单位。研究会的主要职责是：国内外学术研究及交流、培训仲裁员及律师、举办国内外仲裁理论及实务研讨会、出版仲裁刊物及相关书籍以及开展咨询等。目前，研究会有登记会员千余人，涵盖仲裁机构、企业、律所、法学院校等团体，以及仲裁从业者、大学和研究机构人员、律师、企业法务代表、专家学者等个人，是代表整个中国仲裁行业水平的学术领军团体。