International Dispute Resolution

Commercial Applications of Public International Law (CAPIL) is a new training course primarily designed for private practitioners and in-house counsel who want to learn about public international law (PIL) that may be relevant to their commercial practice. The course aims to provide a concise and practical introduction to PIL from the perspective of a general commercial lawyer.

To facilitate participation by practitioners, the first edition of the course was presented in four 1.5 hour afternoon seminars on 26 November and 3 December 2021, and was conducted virtually. Each seminar was structured to enable participants to understand and apply contemporary PIL concepts relevant to cross-border business activities. Participants were also sent concise and practical briefing notes summarising all the concepts taught in each seminar, as well as a collection of cases and documents cited in the briefing notes.

The four seminars covered the following topics:

• Module One focused on the core concepts that underlie PIL and how they apply in domestic law.
• Module Two covered state responsibility, sovereign immunity and enforcement against states.
• Module Three addressed state-owned entities and international institutions as parties to commercial contracts, international law as the governing law of a contract, stabilization clauses and dispute resolution clauses.
• Module Four provided an understanding of the international law that informs ESG and CSR obligations and explained how UN sanctions work and how they impact business.

Persons interested in participating in future editions of this course may reach out to cil.events@nus.edu.sg.