CIL Dialogues is the re-imagination of the existing blog of the Centre for International Law (CIL) of the National University of Singapore (NUS). The editorial team’s approach to CIL Dialogues reflects two shared commitments. First, we share a generalist perspective of international law, viewed as raising shared foundational questions across specialised fields, institutions, regions, and inquiries. Secondly, we are appreciative that CIL Dialogues is not based in (the virtual space of), or associated with institutions in the ‘Western European and Others States Group’. The blog will therefore be interested in international law broadly conceived and seek to be attentive to regional perspectives to questions of universal and general relevance, particularly relating to Asia Pacific, as well as the views and voices that may have been traditionally excluded. More...
Featured Symposium ...
Symposium Introductory Blog What is the Point of The Theory, Practice, and Interpretation of Customary International Law? by Jörg Kammerhofer & Panos Merkouris Published on 15 November 2022 I. In early 2018, we started planning a conference on the theoretical aspects of customary international law (CIL) as the first instalment of the European Conference Series …
A first look at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework: What’s in it for Indo-Pacific participants, and can it succeed? (Part 1) By Celine Lange Published on 10 November 2022 In February 2022, the President of the United States announced the launch of a new Indo-Pacific Strategy, characterised as heralding a US re-engagement with the region, which …
A first look at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework: What’s in it for Indo-Pacific participants, and can it succeed? (Part 2) By Celine Lange Published on 10 November 2022 Part 2 of the blog series on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), launched in May 2022 by President Biden, examines the possible benefits of the Framework for …
Climate Litigation and the Limits of Legal Imagination: A Reply to Corina Heri By Benoit Mayer (Associate Professor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong) Published on 4 November 2022 Corina Heri’s article in the European Journal of International Law argues that ‘protection against the human rights impacts of climate change under the ECHR (European Convention …
Climate Litigation and the Limits of Legal Imagination: A Reply to Corina Heri Read More »
We Read 22 Intervention Declarations So You Don’t Have To Reviewing Key Themes and Arguments in Ukraine v. Russia* by Juliette McIntyre, Ori Pomson & Kyra Wigard Published on 27 October 2022 Introduction If you follow the activity of the International Court of Justice (Court or ICJ) at all, you will not have failed to …
We Read 22 Intervention Declarations So You Don’t Have To Read More »
What to Expect in Upcoming Provisional Measures Proceedings in Equatorial Guinea v France (No. 2) by Cecily Rose, Assistant Professor of Public International Law, Grotius Centre, Leiden University Published on 19 October 2022 These days, it seems that applications instituting proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are almost always accompanied by a request …
Symposium: Climate Change in an Unequal World: Does International Law Matter? Our Islands, Our Home: How Eight Torres Strait Islander Peoples Held the Australian Government Accountable for Climate Inaction by Zoe Nay (University of Melbourne) Published on 30 September 2022 Introduction As the adverse impacts of climate change are becoming more frequent and intense, affected countries …
Symposium: The Second World War in Asia: Justice Efforts, War Memory, and Reparations Memory-Making on the Ground: Peace Boat and Japanese World War II Narratives by Lim Jia Yi (Research Fellow, Singapore War Crimes Trials Project) Published on 7 October 2022 No one country is ever simply either a victim or an aggressor… What is immoral …
Memory-Making on the Ground: Peace Boat and Japanese World War II Narratives Read More »
Symposium: The Second World War in Asia: Justice Efforts, War Memory, and Reparations Digital Humanities and World War Two in Asia: the Battle of Hong Kong 1941 Project as Example by Associate Professor Kwong Chi Man (Hong Kong Baptist University) Published on 5 October 2022 On 8 December 1941, as part of the larger conflict between …
Symposium: The Second World War in Asia: Justice Efforts, War Memory, and Reparations Words Matter, Translation Matters by Professor Kayoko Takeda (Rikkyo University) Published on 3 October 2022 Translation creates opportunities for a state to promote its narrative of war memories while meeting potentially conflicting political expectations of different parties, domestic and international. This was the …
Symposium: The Second World War in Asia: Justice Efforts, War Memory, and Reparations Northeast Asia’s War Reparations Movement: Towards the Messy Uncertainty of Democracy, Civil Society and Rule of Law by Professor Timothy Webster (Western New England University School of Law) Published on 30 September 2022 For the past thirty years, domestic courts in the Asia-Pacific …
Symposium: The Second World War in Asia: Justice Efforts, War Memory, and Reparations Problems of Justice in the Post-War Allied War Crimes Trials of Japanese Suspects by Professor Robert Cribb (Australian National University) and Professor Sandra Wilson (Murdoch University) Published on 28 September 2022 After the Second World War in Asia finally ended in August 1945, …
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Symposium: The Second World War in Asia: Justice Efforts, War Memory, and Reparations The Tokyo Trial and its Legacy by Professor Neil Boister, University of Canterbury, New Zealand Published on 26 September 2022 Introduction The Tokyo Judgment was handed down by majority on the 12th November 1948, nearly three quarters of a century ago. After …
Symposium Introductory Blog The Second World War in Asia: Justice Efforts, War Memory, and Reparations by Associate Professor Cheah W.L. (National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law) Published on 26 September 2022 This symposium on the Second World War in Asia is co-organized by CIL Dialogues and the International Criminal Law Interest Group of the …
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Symposium: Climate Change in an Unequal World: Does International Law Matter? Addressing Loss and Damage: The Unanswered Call for Climate Reparations by Julia Dehm Published on 21 September 2022 The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has been raising the issue of compensation for climate impacts since at least 1991 while the United Nations Framework …
Addressing Loss and Damage: The Unheard Call for Climate Reparations Read More »
Symposium: Climate Change in an Unequal World: Does International Law Matter? The Configurations of Latin American Climate Law by Juan Auz[1] Published on 19 September 2022 Law and Climate Vulnerability in Latin America: An Introduction Alongside the contingencies of human spatial settlement, the law co-creates and perpetuates vulnerability. As a social technology, law dictates the …
The Configurations of Latin American Climate Law Read More »
Symposium: Climate Change in an Unequal World: Does International Law Matter? Climate Change Litigation: A View from ASEAN by Jolene Lin Published on 16 September 2022 Frustrated by governmental inaction and threatened by the impacts of climate change on their homes and livelihoods, citizens and environmental groups around the world have taken the quest for …
Symposium: Climate Change in an Unequal World: Does International Law Matter? Climate Change in an Unequal World: Do International Courts and Tribunals Matter? by Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh* Published on 15 September 2022 Climate change is widely seen as the defining challenge of our time. It is already having devastating impacts on people, biodiversity and ecosystems around …
Climate Change in an Unequal World: Do International Courts and Tribunals Matter? Read More »
Symposium: Climate Change in an Unequal World: Does International Law Matter? Climate Justice Demands a World Beyond International Law Dylan Asafo* Published on 12 September 2022 To Indigenous peoples across Te Moana Nui a Kiwa (more commonly and colonially known as the Pacific Ocean), the answer to the big question ‘does international law matter?’ lies …
Climate Justice Demands a World Beyond International Law Read More »
Symposium Introductory Blog Climate Change in an Unequal World: Does International Law Matter? by Dr Nilüfer Oral (NUS Centre for International Law) and Dr Ntina Tzouvala (ANU College of Law) Published on 12 September 2022 The adverse impacts of anthropogenic climate change, while global, have disproportionate consequences for many states and peoples that have contributed …
Climate Change in an Unequal World: Does International Law Matter? Read More »
Climate Change and Fashion Supply Chains: Translating Aspirations into Meaningful Corporate Climate Action? by Danielle Yeow and Brian Chang This is the second blog post of a two-part series, which discusses efforts to galvanise industry to take action to reduce carbon emissions in their supply chain. Our first[1] blog post focused on ESG and carbon …
Dispute Settlement under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: Part 4: Panel Appointment Strategies by Yvette Foo The final post for this RCEP series continues to look beyond the roles of the Complainant and Respondent, by assessing how panel members are appointed. It briefly goes through the different ways that a panel can be composed under Article …
Carbon Reporting and Science-based Targets: Precursors to Effective Corporate Climate Action? by Danielle Yeow and Brian Chang The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported that, to meet the Paris Agreement’s ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, the world, including businesses, has to collectively act to reduce absolute carbon emissions by 45% by …
Dispute Settlement under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: Part 3: Third Parties under Chapter 19 by Yvette Foo Thus far, this blog series focused on provisions pertaining to the Complainant and Respondent parties disputing under RCEP. Part 1 analysed specific procedural issues, while Part 2 focused on the rights/benefits that Least Developed Country Parties have under …
Trade and Sustainable Development Chapters in EU FTAs: Adapting Enforcement Methods to the Purpose(s)? by Stefanie Schacherer and Tensin Studer* The EU has been negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) with a number of countries in the Indo-Pacific region. FTAs with Singapore, South Korea, and Viet Nam are already in force, and trade negotiations with Australia and …
Dispute Settlement under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: Part 2: Is Article 19.18’s Special and Differential Treatment Necessary? by Yvette Foo Following Part 1 which examined key procedural provisions of Chapter 19, Part 2 now discusses Article 19.18 of RCEP, which purports to provide special and differential treatment (SDT) to Least Developed Country Parties (LCDP(s)) at …
Dispute Settlement under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: Part 1: An Overview of Chapter 19 by Yvette Foo The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) is a mega-free trade agreement (FTA) between fifteen countries that has recently entered into force. What makes the agreement remarkable is its sheer size and coverage, and concomitant impact as a …
THE 2022 AMENDMENTS TO THE ICSID ARBITRATION RULES: INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF ISDS REFORM Charalampos Giannakopoulos* On 21 March 2022, the member states of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) approved by overwhelming majority a comprehensive set of amendments to the Centre’s rules. The ICSID rules amendment process had been long …
RUSSIA’S POST-CONFLICT OBLIGATION TO COMPENSATE by Romesh Weeramantry The harrowing footage of civilian displacement and property destruction resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brings to mind the importance of a recent but overshadowed milestone – on 13 January 2022 Iraq finally satisfied its compensation obligations that resulted from its invasion of Kuwait. The Kuwait invasion compensation program …
Russia’s Post-Conflict Obligation To Compensate by Romesh Weeramantry Read More »
To Close or Not to Close the Turkish Straits under Article 19 of the 1936 Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits by Nilüfer Oral Centre for International Law – NUS President Zelensky’s request to Turkey to invoke Article 19 On 24 February 2022, Ukrainian President Zelensky requested the Turkish Government to close the Turkish Straits for …
SUPREMELY PRAGMATIC: THE UK SUPREME COURT’S JUDGMENT IN “MADURO BOARD” OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF VENEZUELA V “GUAIDÓ BOARD” OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF VENEZUELA MASSIMO LANDO Assistant Professor, School of Law, City University of Hong Kong Global Fellow, Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore THE LEGAL ISSUES: RECOGNITION AND ACT OF STATE …
The gift that keeps on giving: The ICJ’s Orders on Provisional Measures in the Cases between Armenia and Azerbaijan MASSIMO LANDO Assistant Professor, School of Law, City University of Hong Kong Global Fellow, Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore Two “tit-for-tat” requests for provisional measures On 7 December 2021, the International Court of Justice …
Approaches to Advisory Procedure in the Right to Vote Advisory Opinion of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights MASSIMO LANDO Assistant Professor, School of Law, City University of Hong Kong Global Fellow, Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore A Little Noticed Pandemic-related Case We may have become accustomed to living in …
Remote Arbitration Hearings in the Asia-Pacific Region by Arthur Tan In the context of COVID-19, various judicial proceedings have necessarily been conducted remotely. Arbitral proceedings are no exception. With the current difficulties surrounding international travel, knowing if virtual hearings are an option and in what circumstances they might be ordered is of some importance to …
Remote Arbitration Hearings in the Asia-Pacific Region by Arthur Tan Read More »
New Paris Agreement Rules Will Enable the Growth of International Carbon Markets by Brian Chang Although the conclusion of the recent COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow was marred by the last-minute watering-down of text relating to the use of coal, this should not overshadow the significant accomplishments that were achieved, including the long-awaited agreement …
A Trip Down Memory Lane: The Judgment of the International Court of Justice in Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean (Somalia v Kenya) MASSIMO LANDO Assistant Professor, School of Law, City University of Hong Kong Global Fellow, Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore “Been There, Done That” One may get used to lack of consistency …