CIL Researchers – Prof Tony Anghie and Amiel Ian Valdez of TRILA Team, and Dita Liliansa of Oceans Team – were actively involved in the 2024 Asian Society of International Law (Asian SIL) Intersessional Conference and its component event, the Junior Scholar Workshop (JSW).

The JSW was co-organised by the TRILA Team, Asian SIL, Narxoz University, and KIMEP University, School of Law. It was held online via Zoom on 23 May 2024, that is, a day before the main conference. Twenty (20) selected junior scholars presented their papers on a wide range of issues, such as international human rights law, history and theory of international law, international investment law, international trade law, and international environmental law. Joining the junior scholars were eleven (11) distinguished senior scholars who commented on the papers. TRILA Programme Head, Prof Tony Anghie, served as a Commentator in the human rights law panel, while CIL Research Fellow, Amiel Ian Valdez, served as the overall moderator.

Following the JSW is the main conference which was a two-day in-person event running from 24 to 25 May 2024 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The conference was co-organised by the AsianSIL, Narxoz University and KIMEP University, School of Law. The first day of the conference was held in the main hall of Narxoz University. Meanwhile, the second day sessions and closing ceremony took place in the law school of KIMEP University. The conference brought together around eighty (80) to one hundred (100) participants from twenty-six (26) countries. The sessions and presentations revolved around the conference theme: ‘Asia and International Law: Historical Legacy and Progressive Development’.

In the main conference, CIL Research Fellow, Dita Liliansa, presented her ongoing research on the “Protection of Human Rights of Fishers in Southeast Asia” in Panel 1C: Challenges to International Law and Its Effectiveness.

Prof Anghie was the Keynote Speaker in the Closing Plenary Session, in which he spoke about ‘International Law in Asia: Reflections on the Past, Present and Future’. Other than that, he chaired the panel on ‘Asian Values and Approaches to Multilateral Cooperation in Asia – Asia and the Future of International Law’. He also delivered a short welcome remark at the Opening Plenary Session.

Amiel Ian Valdez served as the Chair of Panel 4C: Environmental Issues of Cooperation Between Asian States.

The next biennial conference of the Asian SIL will be held in Hanoi, Viet Nam, in 2025.