Past Event – International Workshop on Treaty Law and Practice
The Centre for International Law (CIL) and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) jointly held a 3-day Workshop on Treaty Law and Practice from 16-19 January 2012. More than 35 participants from the 10 ASEAN member governments and the ASEAN Secretariat attended the Workshop. The speakers at the Workshop included treaty experts formerly with the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as well as a legal advisor to the Council of Europe. Speeches included opening speech by CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh (download in PDF) and remarks by HE Bagas Hapsoro, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN (download in PDF). For more information about the Workshop, click here.
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The first in the Centre for International Law’s Fireside Chat Series on International Law and Diplomacy took place yesterday, 13 January 2012, at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus. Professor S. Jayakumar had a frank exchange with students on the topic "Diplomacy and International Law: A Singaporean Perspective". Students from NUS, NTU and SMU took this opportunity to ask many questions relating to Singapore’s policy and approach to international legal concerns and international dispute settlement. For more information on the Chat Series, 
The S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) of the Nanyang Technological University and the Centre for International Law (CIL) jointly hosted the 4th meeting of the Ocean Policy Institute Network in the East Asian Region (OPINEAR) in Singapore from 24-25 November 2011. The Meeting was attended by OPINEAR members, such as Ocean Policy Research Foundation (Japan), Center for South East Asian Studies (Indonesia), Coastal and Ocean Management Institute (China), Maritime Institute of Malaysia and Korea Maritime Institute. CIL Director Professor Robert Beckman and CIL Adjunct Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons gave presentations on Singapore’s policy and institutions on ocean and coastal governance. For more information, 
CIL is pleased to announced that a Global Associate of our Centre, Ambassador Kriangsak Kittichaisaree of Thailand, has been elected to the International Law Commission (ILC) of the United Nations for a 5-year term starting from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016. Our congratulations to Ambassador Kriangsak. For more information about the ILC, 
Assoc Prof Michael Ewing-Chow and Research Fellow Geraldine Fischer were consulted by Prof Sophia Listrani of Syiah Kuala University in Aceh about developing the first course on International Investment Law to be taught in English in Indonesia. Prof Listrani spent 2 weeks from 17 October to 1 November 2011 at CIL developing the curriculum and gathering the materials for the course with the advice of Prof Ewing-Chow and Ms Fischer. This project is part of a capacity building initiative for Aceh funded by the Dutch government. Last year Prof Ewing-Chow and Research Associate Liu Gehuan helped Prof Tiwardah Hamidysie develop the first course on World Trade Law in Indonesia.
Mr Bilahari Kausikan, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, delivered a motivating career talk on 19 October 2011 as a CIL Distinguished Speaker. Mr Kausikan shared his insights on Singapore’s foreign policy, including on the role of international law, and answered questions participants had about Singapore’s foreign policy and diplomacy. For more information about the event, 
CIL is proud to announce that its own Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Assoc Prof Michael Ewing-Chow, was selected to represent Singapore as a World Trade Organisation (WTO) chair, one of only 15 WTO chairs in the world. Prof Ewing-Chow's appointment was marked by a reception arganised by CIL and NUS Faculty of Law to commemorate the launch of the Singapore Chair of the WTO Chairs Programme. During the event, Prof Ewing-Chow hosted a Panel of the Asian WTO Chairs on "The Future of the WTO". CIL also hosted the WTO Dialogue for Senior Officials as part of the WTO Chair’s work programme. For more information about Prof Ewing-Chow's appointment, please 
CIL welcomed its first United Nations Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Fellow on the Law of the Sea, Ms Sri Asih Roza Nova of Indonesia, in September 2011. The Fellowship is intended to advance the proficiency and capability of government officials, research fellows or academics from developing countries who are involved in the law of the sea or ocean affairs. At CIL, Ms. Roza Nova will carry out her proposed research/study on the issues of “illegal fishing” under the guidance of Director Robert C Beckman, Head of CIL’s Ocean Law and Policy Programme. For more information, 
We are pleased to announce that former Senior Minister Professor S Jayakumar, who has returned to the NUS Faculty of Law upon his retirement from politics, has agreed to provide guidance and advice to the Centre for International Law (CIL). Professor Jayakumar, a Patron of CIL, will assist the Centre to realise its goal to be a leading think tank on international law and policy. For more information, 
A conference report on the CIL Conference on Joint Development and the South China Sea is now ready for 
CIL continues its second year of association with the prestigious Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy, which convenes annually in Rhodes, Greece. At this year’s Academy, held from 3-23 July 2011, CIL’s Director and Head of its Ocean Law & Policy programme, Prof Robert Beckman, was once again invited to join the Faculty. He delivered seminars on the South China Sea claims, provisional measures in maritime delimitation, and submarine cables. For more information, 
The first book ever published on Asia’s first regional human rights system, Dr Tan’s monograph provides a groundbreaking assessment of the progress in Southeast Asia on human rights beginning in the wake of the ‘Asian values’ debate of the 1990s and culminating in the establishment of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).
For more information about the book, click 
CIL hosted a 2-day closed-door international conference on Joint Development and the South China Sea from 16-17 June 2011 at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. Professor S. Jayakumar, the Patron of CIL, was the Guest-of-Honour. In his keynote address on the morning of 16 June 2011, Prof Jayakumar called on China and the US to take certain steps. “China should not continue to leave unaddressed the concerns and questions raised by many over its puzzling and disturbing nine-dotted-lines map” he noted and added, “The US is a major maritime power whose engagement with, and presence in, the region is crucial for maintaining stability in the South China Sea. Unfortunately, it has yet to become a party to UNCLOS”.
For the complete speech, media articles and more information, 
CIL hosted the 2nd Singapore Conference on International Investment Arbitration on 31 May 2011. As with the inaugural conference in 2010, the second conference was organised to be back to back with the Singapore International Arbitration Forum. Mr Philip Jeyaretnam SC, Chairman of Maxwell Chambers, was the Guest of Honour. Many leading trade and investment experts, arbitrators, academics, researchers, and government policy-makers participated in the conference, which focused on the timely issue of “International Investment Agreements and Financial Crises”. For more information, 
CIL and the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) jointly organised a 1 ½ day Workshop on the Protection of Submarine Cables on 14-15 April 2011. The Workshop began on the last day of the ICPC Annual Plenary Meeting in Singapore from 12-14 April 2011. The Workshop was intended to continue the momentum generated by CIL’s 2009 Workshop on submarine cables and the 7 December 2010 UNGA omnibus resolution relating to submarine cables. More than 150 delegates from governments, academia, industry and IOs attended. For the
On 25 April 2011, CIL Director Robert Beckman launched Gerd Droesse’s edited volume “Funds for Development: Multilateral Channels of Concessional Financing”. The book examines the concessional windows of the AfDB, ADB, CDB, IFAD, World Bank Group, and other multilateral development banks and financial institutions. For more information and the link to the book in the ADB website, click 
CIL has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the renowned Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea of Utrecht University (NILOS) effective from 1 April 2011. For more information, 
The Centre for International Law and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 21 March 2011 with a view to developing collaboration on a variety of public international law subjects of mutual interest to both organisations such as treaty law and practice and customary international law in domestic courts. For more information about the MOU, 
A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade/Investment Law and Policy and A/P Dora Neo, CIL Associate, were invited by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to participate as experts at the WTO Advanced Regional Workshop on the GATS from 8-10 February 2011 in Singapore. They presented on “Trade in Financial Services and Financial Crises” to the 38 officials from the Asia Pacific region attending the workshop. A/P Ewing-Chow also shared his thoughts on the interaction of Regional Trade Agreements and the GATS specifically calling attention to the need to harmonize RTA Investment Chapters with their Services Chapters. The CIL experts were assisted by Liu Gehuan, Research Associate. For more information as well as the PowerPoint presentations, 
CIL is proud to have become a participating institution of the United Nations Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Fellowship on the Law of the Sea. A Memorandum of Arrangement to the effect was signed in January 2011 by CIL’s Director Prof Robert Beckman and Mr Serguei Tarassenko, Director of the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS). The Fellowship will provide an opportunity for successful applicants to be attached to CIL and UNDOALOS for research and training on the Law of the Sea. For more information about the Fellowship, 
CIL organized a Workshop on International Maritimes Crimes: Legal Issues and Prospects for Co-operation in ASEAN on 17-18 January at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel in Singapore. The Workshop brought together international experts on the law of sea and transnational crimes, government officials from the 10 ASEAN countries and academics from around the world. The papers and discussions at the Workshop examined whether the current international law framework was adequate to combat serious international maritime crimes such as piracy, ship-hijacking, hostage-taking and maritime terrorism. For more information as well as workshop materials, background materials and photo gallery, 
The ASEAN Economic Community Law and Policy course was launched on January 11th 2011 in the Faculty of Law, NUS. This is the first course in the world on ASEAN EC Law and it seeks to address the increasing integration and legalization efforts of ASEAN after the ASEAN Charter was ratified in 2008. Adjunct A/P Edmund Sim, Partner, Appleton Luff, and an Associate of CIL, teaches the course. A/P Sim has been one of the leading practitioners of international trade law in the ASEAN region for the last 15 years. For more information, 
Mr Peter Ho, the former Head of the Singapore Civil Service and the former Permanent Secretary of the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke on the importance of international law for Singapore's foreign policy on 14 January 2011 as a CIL Distinguished Speaker. Mr Ho used several case studies from Singapore's past to illustrate that international law levels the playing field for small countries and the use of international law need not be a zero-sum game but can lead to win-win outcomes for countries engaged in disputes. For more information, 
On 18 November 2010, Prof Alan Tan, Head of CIL's Air Law and Policy Programme, was invited by the Indonesian Directorate-General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) to address the Indonesian aviation community on an ASEAN Open Skies Policy. Prof Tan’s involvement arose from the CIL-SAA-McGill Conference on Air Transport held in Singapore in May 2010, during which the Indonesian delegates had requested CIL's assistance for a follow-up seminar targeted at the aviation landscape in Indonesia. The seminar was attended by senior officials from Garuda and various Indonesian airlines, as well as representatives from the Indonesian government, ICAO and IATA. In his presentation, Prof Tan outlined… [
Ms Tara Davenport, a research associate at the Centre for International Law (CIL), has received a monetary prize of £1000 for a paper she submitted on submarine cables and international law. Tara’s paper, entitled "Submarine Cables: Problems in Law and Practice" (
The Centre for International Law (CIL) has been organising a groundbreaking South China Sea (SCS) Seminar Series. CIL’s SCS Seminar Series provides a select audience of researchers, policymakers and students the various Claimant States’ and Indonesia’s perspectives on the South China Sea territorial claims. So far, the series has featured 
On 11 November 2010, CIL was honoured to welcome Dr Francis Deng, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, as CIL’s third speaker in its Distinguished Speaker Series. Dr Deng spoke on the topic of "Understanding and Preventing Mass Atrocity Crimes: A Regional Perspective". For more information about the event, please 
The Centre for International Law (CIL) organised the inaugural event of its ‘ASEAN Charter Series’ on 16 August 2010. The Regional Workshop on “Implementing Legal Personality and Privileges & Immunities” was opened by Prof Tommy Koh. ASEAN Deputy-Secretary General Bagas Hapsoro delivered the introductory remarks. Former ASEAN Secretary-Generals Mr. Ong Keng Yong and Mr. Rodolfo Severino were among the distinguished speakers at this Workshop. For more information about the conference, to download speeches and view the photo gallery, please 
CIL is sad to announce the passing of Mr S. Tiwari, a senior advisor to the Centre. Our deepest sympathies and condolences are with Mr. Tiwari’s family.
CIL Director Prof Robert Beckman conducted an “Introduction to International Law” course for the MFA Diplomatic Academy on 24-25 June 2010. Participants included policy and legal officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade & Industry, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports, Singapore Police Force, Internal Security Department and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority. For more information on executive training programmes, email 
CIL participated in the Asian Society of International Law and Indonesian Society of International Law (ISIL) Conference (
CIL co-organised the prestigious International Conference on Air Transport, Air Law and Regulation conference with McGill University’s Institute of Air & Space Law (IASL) and the Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA) from 24 to 26 May 2010. This conference addressed critical issues facing civil aviation with a particular emphasis on Asian air transportation. For more information about the conference, to download speeches or view the photo gallery, please 
The Protocol to the ASEAN Charter on Dispute Settlement Mechanisms ("Protocol") was concluded by the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN in Ha Noi, Vietnam on 8 April, 2010. This is a significant step forward towards a rules based community. Article 20 of the ASEAN Charter had set out general guidelines for the dispute settlement among ASEAN members. The Protocol expands on this by providing clearer rules and processes for dispute settlement. The Protocol will apply not only to the interpretation and application of the ASEAN Charter, but also to other ASEAN instruments. In particular, the Protocol establishes a dispute settlement mechanism which allows the ASEAN Summit to approve a decision if consensus among the ASEAN members cannot be reached. However, the Protocol leaves the issue of enforcement for further negotiations. To access the full text of the Protocol, please 
CIL launched its Distinguished Speaker Series with Dr Patrick Low, Chief Economist of the World Trade Organization (WTO), as the Centre’s first CIL Distinguished Speaker. Dr Patrick Low spoke on the important and timely topic of “CLIMATE CHANGE AND TRADE REGIMES: THE QUEST FOR COMPATIBILITY” on 13th May 2010 at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus. For more information please 
CIL officially launched its Documents Database on 18 March 2010. The event was graced by His Excellency Mr Bagas Hapsoro, ASEAN’s Deputy Secretary-General, who specially made the journey from Jakarta to speak at the launch. The launch, held at the new Maxwell Chambers in Singapore, was attended by invited guests from academic and research institutions, the government, the Supreme Court, the diplomatic corps, and officials from the ASEAN Secretariat. For more information about the event, speeches and photo gallery, 
On 11 January 2010, a CIL team led by Director Prof Robert Beckman made a day-trip to the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) in Jakarta to introduce the ASEAN component of the CIL Documents Database to key persons at ASEC and discuss possible collaboration between CIL and ASEC. The CIL Director also advised the ASEC staff that CIL was planning a major research project on “Integration through Law: The ASEAN Way in a Comparative Context”. The CIL team comprised staff involved in the creation and maintenance of the document database project, and research associates with an interest in ASEAN. [
The Centre for International Law (CIL) organised a global conference on International Investment Arbitration on 20 January 2010 at the Supreme Court of Singapore. The conference brought together more than 160 international law experts and practitioners from Asia, Europe and the Americas to Singapore to discuss emerging issues in international investment arbitration. For more information, 
On 14-15 December 2009, CIL organised and hosted a Workshop on Submarine Cables and the Law of the Sea in close cooperation with the International Cables Protection Committee (ICPC) and other co-sponsors. The workshop brought together experts from the cable industry, experts on the law of the sea and government representatives from the region to examine the practice of industry and governments on submarine cables in light of the legal regime governing submarine cables set out in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
For more information, 
CIL was officially launched on 30th October 2009 at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus by Senior Minister Professor S Jayakumar. This landmark event featured a colloquium on Singapore and International Law: The Early Years with Justice Chao Hick Tin, Mr S. Tiwari, Professor Tommy Koh and Professor Walter Woon.
To read more about the event, download colloquium papers and to view the photo gallery, 
CIL Director Robert Beckman made a presentation to government officials in Brunei Darussalam. 
Prof Ewing-Chow advised the members of the Working Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR). 
CIL Director Robert Beckman participated in and presented a paper at the MIMA Conference on the South China Sea. 
CIL RA Tara Davenport participated in and presented a paper at a Conference on Marine Energy Resources in Asia. 
