After three years in an online format, the ASEAN Law and Policy Academy returns to an in-person format in its sixth edition, conducted at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Bukit Timah Campus from 29 July – 5 August 2024.
The Academy features a revamped syllabus that discusses ASEAN’s responses to global issues and contemporary geopolitical shifts. Hence, while the core syllabus of ASEAN’s rules-based integration emphasising the importance of legal and institutional frameworks remains, new modules on the ASEAN Economic Community, digital trade, international dispute resolution, law of the sea, climate change, and more are included.
A flagship programme of Centre for International Law (CIL) at NUS, the Academy is a cross-disciplinary master’s level intensive programme for policymakers, practitioners, and academics working in the fields of politics and governance, economics, and law. It is founded on twelve years of research at CIL on ASEAN legal integration and institution building, including the ASEAN Integration Through Law book series published by Cambridge University Press.
Co-directed by Professor Joseph Weiler (New York University (NYU), NUS) and Dr Tan Hsien-Li (NUS), the modules are created and taught by an international faculty of experts from practice and academia and provides participants with a deeper understanding of ASEAN institutions and key developments in ASEAN’s economic integration, foreign affairs and legal framework.
Who Should Attend?
Changemaker Programme
- Officials from ASEAN Member States, external partners, and/or international organisations involved in ASEAN cooperation/policymaking
- Legal practitioners advising clients in the Asia-Pacific
- Company executives benefitting from ASEAN economic integration and trade agreements
- Legal background NOT required
Educator Programme
- Lecturers in tertiary institutions
- Postgraduate-level students
- Academics researching ASEAN or regional integration
- Legal background and prior teaching experience NOT required
Changemaker Programme (5 days, 29 July – 2 August 2024)
This Programme is designed for policymakers in governments and regional institutions of Southeast Asia and partner countries, as well as practitioners in the private sector and civil society. The Academy enables Changemakers to keep abreast of ASEAN developments, engage in specialised content and practicums on key topics and interact with influential ASEAN researchers and educators. The Changemaker Programme is taught over 5 days between 29 July – 2 August 2024, and is offered in-person only. See the Programme details below.
Educator Programme (6 days, 29 July – 5 August 2024)
This Programme is for tertiary educators and/or researchers teaching and researching issues related to any aspect of ASEAN integration. The Academy’s Educator Programme has received acclaim from senior faculty as well as aspiring academics, especially those from the faculties of economics, law, and political science. The Educator Programme comprises the main taught programme from Days 1-5, a half-day workshop on academic publishing and pedagogy, concluding with a full-day academic conference. Presentation at the conference is compulsory for participation in this Programme. Educator Programme participants have the option of in-person or online modalities. See the Programme details below.
All Educator participants must submit a short abstract (max 500 words) of the unpublished paper/work-in-progress they wish to present. Click here to view the Call for Papers.
Selection of Specialisations
For greater in-depth training in their area of interest, Academy participants (for both the Changemaker and Educator Programmes) are split into subject specialisations on days 3 and 4 of the Programme.
Three Specialisations are offered in 2024:
The ASEAN Economic Community
- ASEAN Trade and the Indo-Pacific, Ms Elizabeth Chelliah
- Evaluating ASEAN’s Economic Scorecard, Dr Julia Tijaja
- Beyond ASEAN: The New Economic Agreements, Prof Pasha Hsieh
ASEAN and Foreign Relations
- ASEAN External Relations, Mr Jason Tan
- ASEAN and the South China Sea, Dr Nguyen Thanh Trung
- ASEAN and The High Seas Treaty – Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), Ambassador Rena Lee
- ASEAN Digital Economic Framework Agreement/Digital Trade, Dr Ming Tan
ASEAN Investment Law, Prof Jürgen Kurtz
- An in-depth module examining regional law and governance in ASEAN through the lens of its unique foreign investment regime. This module includes a hands-on practicum on Investor-State Dispute Settlement in the ASEAN context.
For in-person attendees, spaces in each Specialisation are limited. The organisers will endeavor to allocate to applicants their first choice Specialisation.
Application
Only selected applicants will attend the Academy. Applicants should be fluent in English, and should fulfil at least one of the following requirements:
- Familiarity with at least one aspect of ASEAN cooperation in either a practitioner or academic setting, OR
- Comparative expertise in law, public policy, political science or economics in one or more Southeast Asian countries, OR
- Has completed the ASEAN Law Academy Foundation Programme, OR
- Has attended previous iterations of the Academy.
The deadline for applications to all ASEAN Law and Policy Academy programmes is 1 July 2024.
The deadline for submission of abstracts for the ASEAN Law and Policy Academy Conference, and for scholarship applications for the Educator Programme is 29 June 2024.
Course Fees
|
Changemaker Programme (in-person only) |
5 days |
SGD 1,500 |
|
Educator Programme (in-person) |
6 days |
SGD 1,500 |
|
Educator Programme (online) |
6 days |
SGD 500 |
|
Specialisation Module only (online, for returning Academy participants only) |
2 days |
SGD 150 |
The fees include course materials and catering for in-person attendance. The fees are inclusive of government taxes, exclusive of bank charges, travel and accommodation costs.
Scholarships
Limited scholarships are available for the Changemaker and Educator Programmes. Please indicate on your application if you would like to be considered for a scholarship. The scholarship covers the programme fees of SGD 1,500, SGD 500, or SGD 150. It does not cover travel or accommodation for in-person participants. Please note that for the Educator Programme, scholarships are available only to participants whose papers are accepted for the ASEAN Law and Policy Academy Conference.
For more information, please email cil.events@nus.edu.sg