Policymakers Workshop on Cryptocurrency and the Blockchain Regulation

• Two day workshop – 4 and 5 July 8:00 – 14:30, in Kampala Uganda

Dr Maureen Mapp (Birmingham Law School) in collaboration with the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFRI) are co-hosting a Policymakers workshop on cryptocurrency and the Blockchain regulation, the aim of which is to consider proposals for policy- led public consultations.

The two-day workshop (4 and 5 July 2018) will see distinguished Ministers, the judiciary, financial regulators, financial supervisors, law enforcement agencies, academics, and cryptocurrency and the Blockchain businesses, discuss contemporary issues in policy making in particular how to create a pitch for a public consultation on policy recommendations.

Background

This two day workshop grew from a 2015 Commonwealth Secretariat study on Virtual Currencies in which the lack of regulatory guidance, instruction or opinion was noted. With technical support from the Central Bank of Uganda and UNAFRI, University of Birmingham then convened the first Roundtable in July 2016 at which a list of instructive guidance was developed by participants.  A second Round Table was convened in 2017 by UNAFRI and Birmingham Law School with the express intention of moving the project forward again. 

During the original Round Tables, we learned quickly that regulating distributed ledger technologies (like the Blockchain) is a porous topic that is very good to think with – and for that reason we decided that the policy making needed a strong focus, and a goal.  After intense deliberations, the 2017 Kampala Declaration on Fundamental Principles on the Regulation of Cryptocurrencies and the Blockchain (Digital Ledger Technologies) in Uganda was agreed. 

The Declaration offers useful building blocks for a policy based public consultation document (sometimes referred to as a Green Paper) by setting out these agreed principles that could buttress a multi-sectoral Cryptocurrency and Blockchain policy. These principles include social justice, sustainability, co- regulation, social cultural legitimacy, risk based proportionality, and the rule of law.

The two day event will be opened by the Minister for Internal Affairs and there will be speeches by the Minister of State for Finance, and Economic Development. The Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology will also be represented.

Panelists come from both the private and public sector, including individuals. They include the Uganda Law Reform Commission, The Commercial Court, the Judicial Training Institute, Bowmans Uganda, Financial Intelligence Authority of Uganda, Makerere University, University of Birmingham, UNAFRI, KTA Advocates and Solicitors, Kirunda and Wasige Advocates, Blockchain Association of Uganda, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Justice Law and Order Sector, and the Uganda Police Force.

This workshop is a freestanding event and is completely full.

Confirmed Panelists 

Mr David Mpanga, Bowmans Uganda (https://www.bowmanslaw.com/lawyer/david-f-k-mpanga/)

Mr Sydney Asubo, Financial Intelligence Authority (http://www.fia.go.ug/fia2/)

Mr Kenneth Muhangi, KTA Advocates and Solicitors (http://www.ktaadvocates.com/)

Mr Robert Kirunda, Kirunda and Wasige Advocates (https://kirundawasige.co.ug/)

Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (http://www.dpp.go.ug/)

Electronic and Counter Measures Department, Uganda Police Force (http://www.upf.go.ug/cyber-barometer/)

Uganda Law Reform Commission (http://www.ulrc.go.ug/)

Sponsors

University of Birmingham Law School, College of Arts and Law (University of Birmingham) and UNAFRI