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Professor Vivienne Bath

Profile

Degrees:

BA (Asian Studies) (Hons) ANU (majoring in Classical and Modern Chinese); LLB (Hons) ANU; LLM Harv

Courses taught:

  • International Business Law
  • Doing Business in China
  • Chinese Legal Institutions and Systems
  • Introduction to Chinese Law


Research interests

  • Developments in Chinese Law, particularly in the areas of administrative law and corporate governance; reform of State assets and intellectual property; International business and investment law.


Associations

  • Solicitor, New South Wales; Barrister and Solicitor, Australian Capital Territory;
  • Attorney, State of New York, United States of America;
  • Solicitor, England and Wales;
  • Solicitor, Hong Kong;
  • Vice-President of NSW Branch of the Australia-China Business Council;
  • Member of the International Law Association;
  • American Society of International Law


Brief Biographical Detail

Professor of Chinese and International Business Law , Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, and Director of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney. Prior to joining the Faculty of Law, Vivienne Bath was a partner of international firm Coudert Brothers, working in the Hong Kong and Sydney offices, and specialising in commercial law, with a focus on foreign investment and commercial transactions in the People's Republic of China. She previously practised as a commercial lawyer in New York and Sydney, and worked in the Federal Office of Parliamentary Counsel as a parliamentary draftsman.

Vivienne Bath has published widely in the area of Chinese law and is a frequent participant in conferences and seminars focussing on developments in the Chinese legal regime.

Publications

Books | Book Chapters | Journal Articles | Conference Papers/Presentations

Books

  • Bath, V & Nottage, L (eds), Foreign Investment and Dispute Resolution Law and Practice in Asia, Routledge: UK (2011)
  • Burnett, R & Bath, V, Law of International Business in Australasia, Federation Press: Sydney (2009)

Book Chapters

  • Bath, V & Nottage, L, 'Foreign Investment and Dispute Resolution Law and Practice in Asia: An Overview' in Bath, V & Nottage, L (eds), Foreign Investment and Dispute Resolution Law and Practice in Asia, Routledge: UK (2011) 1-24
  • Bath, V, 'The Quandary for Chinese Regulators: Controlling the Flow of Investment into and out of China' in Bath, V & Nottage, L (eds), Foreign Investment and Dispute Resolution Law and Practice in Asia, Routledge: UK (2011) 68-89
  • Bath, V & Ip, M, 'Wealth and Loss in Changing Economic Times: Reforms in Bankruptcy and Consumer Protection Laws' in J Garrick (ed), Law, Wealth and Power in China: Commercial Law Reforms in Context, Routledge: UK (2011) 231-250
  • Bath, V, 'China' in J Du Plessis, A Hargovan & M Bagaric (eds), Principles of Contemporary Corporate Governance (2nd edition), Cambridge University Press: New York (2011) 386-414
  • Bath, V, ‘China and WTO Transparency Requirements’ in Chunlai Chen (ed), China’s Integration with the Global Economy WTO Accession, Foreign Direct Investment and International Trade, Edward Edgar: Cheltenham UK (2009) 53-70
  • Bath, V, ‘The World Bank Doing Business Reports – Regulation and Change in China and Australia’ in J Gibson & B du Marais (eds), Reformes du droit economique et developpement en Asie, La Documentation Française: France (2007)

Journal Articles

Conference Papers/Presentations

  • Bath, V & Nottage, L, 'Introduction: Investment Treaties and Foreign (Direct) Investment In and Out of Asia' presented at Investment in Asia Book and Sydney Law Review Project Paper Discussion Workshop, Sydney (29 October 2010).
  • Bath, V, 'The Quandary for Chinese Regulators: Controlling the Flow of Investment Into and Out of China' presented at Investment in Asia Book and Sydney Law Review Project Paper Discussion Workshop, Sydney (29 October 2010).
  • Bath, V, 'Regulating the Development of Energy Resources: the Difficult Relationship Between Domestic Regulation and International Relations' presented at Commonwealth Roundtable held at Australian Pavilion, World Expo, Shanghai (11 August 2010).
  • Bath, V, 'China: The Interaction of Commercial and Criminal Law' presented at Sydney University – National University of Singapore Symposium, Singapore (16 July 2010).
  • Bath, V, 'Reform for Innovation and Enterprise – International Trade and Investment' presented at Sydney University seminar held at the Australian Pavilion, World Expo, Shanghai (12 July 2010).
  • Bath, V, 'Legal Issues for Foreign Business in China' Presentation to the Confucius Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide (29 June 2010).
  • Bath, V, 'Responsibilities of States in Connection with Outbound Investment: the Case of China' presented at Australia and New Zealand Society of International Law Conference, Canberra (26 June 2010).
  • Bath, V, 'Law, Politics and Business in China', presentation to the Australian National University College of Law, Canberra (19 May 2010).
  • Bath, V, 'Inbound and Outbound Investment – the Quandary for Chinese regulators', presented at International Investment Arbitration Conference, Sydney (19-20 February 2010).
  • Bath, V, 'China, Foreign Investment and the Global Financial Crisis' presented at Transnational Financing and Investment Forum, Interdisciplinary Seminar Series, Sydney (22 September 2009).
  • Bath, V, 'Legal Drafting - Dual Legal Drafting' presented at International Conference for Effective Legal and Judgement Writing, China (14 September 2009).
  • Bath, V, ‘Teaching and Researching Legal Education in a Globalised Region: The Example of Chinese law’, presented at Rights, Regulation and Responsibility: Australian and Singaporean Perspectives Law Research Symposium Sydney (30-31 July 2009).
  • Bath, V, 'China, Foreign Investment and Mandatory Rules' presented at Asian Law Institute Conference, Hong Kong (30 May 2009).
  • Bath, V, 'China – Investor and Investees' presented at Corporate Law Teachers Association Conference, Sydney (3 February 2009).
  • Bath, V, ‘China legal updates’, presented at Australia China Business Council and CAPLUS, Sydney (30 October 2008).
  • Bath, V, ‘Globalisation of Chinese Law’, presented at British Institute for Comparative and International Law Seminar, London (11 September 2008).
  • Bath, V, ‘Issues in international business: Doing business in China’ presented at Commercial Practice in a Global Economy, Sydney (1 August 2008).
  • Bath, V, ‘Perspectives on Law and Human Rights in China – the Legal System’, Amnesty International NSW (22 July 2008).
  • Bath, V, ‘FDI and Corporate Governance in China’ presented at CAPLUS Seminar: FDI and Corporate Governance in China, Sydney Law School, Sydney (24 June 2008).
  • Bath, V, ‘Enforcement in International Business Transactions in Asia’ presented at 5th Asian Law Institute Conference, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, Singapore (22-23 May 2008).
  • Bath, V, ‘Bankruptcy and Foreign Investment Enterprises’ presented at China Enterprise Bankruptcy Law Symposium, Institute of Asian-Pacific Business Law (University of Hawaii) and Asian Institute of International Financial Law (University of Hong Kong), Hong Kong (25 March 2008).
  • Bath, V, ‘The Role of the State as a Shareholder in Chinese Companies’ presented at The Corporate Law Teachers Association Conference, Sydney (4-5 February 2008).
  • Bath, V, The Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements’, presented at the Zhejiang University of Finance and Law conference, Hangzhou, 4 December 2007 (4 December 2007).
  • Bath, V, ‘China and WTO Transparency Requirements’ presented at China’s Conformity to the WTO: Progress and Challenges held by the Association for Chinese Economic Studies, Australia (13 July 2007).
  • Bath, V, ‘China - Commercial and Administrative Law Reform’, presented at Conference held by the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law and the Law Council of Australia on Law Reform and Business Efficiency in China and Indonesia (6 July 2007).
  • Bath, V, ‘Resolution of Commercial Disputes in China,’ presented at seminar of Centre for Asian and Pacific Law on Resolution of Commercial Disputes in the Chinese courts – a Judge’s View (4 July 2007).
  • Bath, V, ‘Doing Business with China – Regulatory Developments’ presented to The Commercial Law Association - Sydney (25 October 2006).
  • Bath, V, ‘Comments on the PRC Administrative Licensing Law: regulatory implementation’ presented at The Australasian Law Teachers Conference - Sydney (7 July 2006).
  • Bath, V, ‘The Nuts and Bolts of Doing Business in China’ on Dispute Resolution in China’ presented at The Australia China Business Council Seminar (15 August 2005).
  • Bath, V, ‘Doing Business with China – the Role of Government’ presented to The Lowy Business Institute (27 July 2005).
  • Bath, V, ‘International Protection of Intellectual Property’ presented at The College of Law (CLE Seminar) – St Leonards, Australia (2005).
  • Bath, V, ‘Review of Government Action – The role of administrative law in China: A Foreign Perspective’ presented at The Chinese Legal System and the Chinese Government Conference – Sydney (2005).