Jack Wright 

NELSON

Jack is the Editor of the Annals of Air and Space Law, published by the Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Centre for Banking and Finance Law (CBFL), National University of Singapore, and a Consultant at King & Wood Mallesons (KWM). He was formerly a Research Associate at CBFL (2020-2021). Jack practiced law with KWM in Hong Kong (2015 – 2018) and in Singapore (2019 – 2020). While at KWM, he was seconded to the Securities & Futures Commission, where he worked on both policy and enforcement matters. He is admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Hong Kong.

His work has been published by the American Society of International Law, the Asian Journal of International Law, the German Journal of Air & Space Law, the European Journal of Legal Studies, the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, the Cambridge International Law Journal, the Journal of Space Law, as well as in edited collections.

He was also cited in publications from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States Institute of Peace, and in amicus curiae submissions before the United States Supreme Court.

Publications

Journal articles

• “NewSpace, Old Problems: Asset-Based Satellite Financing in the Asia-Pacific” Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, September 2021, 354
• “Safety Zones: A Near-Term Legal Issue on the Moon” Journal of Space Law, Vol. 44, No. 2, 2020, 604 – 624
• “A Practitioner’s Guide to Hong Kong’s Outer Space Ordinance”  German Journal of Air and Space Law, Vol. 68, No. 3, 2019, 387 – 411
• “International Commercial Arbitration in Asia: Hong Kong, Australia and India Compared” Asian International Arbitration Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2014, 105 – 136
• “On the Conceptual Origins of the Law of Unjustified Enrichment”  European Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2013, 119 – 135
• “The Merger Review Guidelines 2008: Concerns and Recommendations”  University of Notre Dame Australia Law Review, Vol. 14, 2012, 83 – 102

Book chapters

• “Securing Europe’s Spaceports: A Legal Perspective” (2021) in Studies in Space Policy: Spaceports in Europe, Annette Froehlich (ed.) (Springer)
• “Liability for Design” (2015) (with Richard Lyons) in Emden’s Construction Law Hong Kong, Arthur McInnis (ed.) (LexisNexis)

Book reviews

• “ASEAN Law in the New Regional Economic Order” Asian Journal of International Law, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2020
• “Chance, Order, Change: The Course of International Law” Asian Journal of International Law, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2016

Online publications

• “The Artemis Accords and the Future of International Space Law” (December 2020) American Society of International Law – Insights
• “Lost in Space? Gaps in the International Space Object Registration Regime” (November 2018) European Journal of International Law 
• “Machine Arbitration and Machine Arbitrators” (July 2016) InternationalCouncil for Commercial Arbitration 
• “The House of Saud and the English Court: The Harb Saga” (November 2015) Cambridge International Law Journal
• “Waiving the Right to Arbitrate in the United States: Should the Prejudice Requirement be Discarded?” (May 2015) Kluwer Arbitration

Presentations

• “New Frontiers for the Conflict of Laws: Lex Situs Across Sea, Air, Space and Cyberspace” (August 2021), organized by the Centre for Banking & Finance Law, NUS
• “Reimagining the Space Protocol: Examining the Cape Town Convention Amid Emerging Space Activities” (July 2021), organized by the Institut international pour l’unification du droit privé (UNIDROIT), Rome
• “NewSpace, Old Problems: Asset-Based Satellite Financing in the Asia-Pacific” (April 2021), organized by the Centre for Banking & Finance Law, NUS
• Commercial Space Law in Practice: The Regulation and Financing of Satellites in Singapore” (March 2021), organized by the Centre for Banking & Finance Law, NUS.
• “Satellites: Market Trends, Regulation Insights from Asia-Pacific and Europe” Financing” (December 2020), organized by KWM, Sydney

• Asia-Pacific Legal Systems
• Space Law
• Air Law
• Emerging Technologies
• Financial Regulation
• Public International Law
• Private International Law

Research Projects

Aviation Financing after ‘Grand Theft Aero’: Paths Through and Beyond the Cape Town Convention

Aircraft lessors have long felt confident in their ability to recover aircraft following lessee default. This confidence was primarily based on the international legal framework provided by the Cape Town Convention (“CTC”). But this confidence has now been shaken: in March 2022, Russia – a party to the CTC – de-registered over 500 foreign-owned aircraft and re-registered them as Russian aircraft. This effective nationalization of over USD10 billion worth of aircraft was memorably described by Paul Jebely, head of asset finance at law firm Withers, as “Grand Theft Aero.”

The immediate economic impact is severe and ongoing: Russia’s actions force offshore lessors to write off their aircraft. These lessors will naturally try and get their insurers to foot the bill, who will naturally resist these claims. There are also downstream risks for the many bondholders whose security lies in these nationalized aircraft. But more long-term and systemic risks also arise. Russia’s actions have severely dented the CTC’s previously sound reputation. As such, leasing aircraft to airlines located in jurisdictions that do not have a strong rule of law has become exponentially riskier, regardless of CTC status. So how can lessors continue to serve airlines in these jurisdictions, post-Grand Theft Aero? This research question will respond to this question, looking at legal paths both through and beyond the CTC.