SYNOPSIS

The importance of sustainability in international trade and commerce is gaining attention in a world where businesses are increasingly recognising that they can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to practices that do more damage than harm in the long-term. Not only are consumers demanding accountability on sustainability practices, but businesses are beginning to realise that unsustainable practices often cost more in the long-term. In an intricately interconnected world where health or environmental practices in one country affect many others, change in sustainability practices are most effectively addressed when states cooperate for a common good. This makes the intersection of international law and sustainability an especially pertinent one. This webinar seeks to examine this intersection through the lenses of four key areas where sustainability concerns are real: environment, human rights, corruption, and sanctions.

PROGRAMME

1:00 PM – 1:05 PM Introduction by Moderator, Charis Tan
1:05 PM – 2:05 PM Presentation by Panellists

Professor Laurence Boisson de Chazournes: Business and Environment
Professor Anita Ramasastry: Business and Human Rights
Dr Romesh Weeramantry: Business and Corruption
Gareth Hughes: Business and Sanctions

2:05 PM – 2:30PM Question and Answer Session, and Closing Remarks

MODERATOR

Charis Tan
Partner, Peter & Kim

Charis Tan specialises in international commercial and investor-State arbitration and public international law.

She is admitted in three jurisdictions (Singapore, England & Wales and New York) and her experience includes investment and commercial arbitrations under the rules of major arbitration institutions, including ICSID, ICC, SIAC and SCC, as well as ad hoc proceedings under UNCITRAL Rules. Charis is regularly engaged as Counsel and also sits as an Arbitrator.

Charis has acted for States in high profile cases before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and her public international law practice includes advising Governments and companies on law of the sea issues, international trade issues and sanctions. She has also been appointed as a WTO Panellist.

Charis has been recommended by Who’s Who Legal, Asia Pacific Legal 500 and Global Arbitration Review (GAR) for international arbitration, and an initiative she spearheaded for the training of Government officials was awarded the FT Innovative Lawyers award.

Charis is co-editor of Investment Protection in Southeast Asia, A Country-by-Country Guide on Arbitration Laws and Bilateral Investment Treaties (Brill, 2017). She was previously an adjunct tutor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) for almost 10 years.

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PANELISTS

Professor Laurence Boisson de Chazournes
Professor, University of Geneva
Director, MIDS
Co-Director, CIDS

Professor Laurence Boisson de Chazournes is professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva. She is Director of the Geneva LL.M. in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS). She is a member of the Institute of International Law (IDI) and directs research projects in various areas of international law. She acts as advocate and counsel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). She has also served as chairperson of WTO arbitration panels and is an arbitrator in investment arbitration (ICSID, ICC, PCA, SCC). Laurence Boisson de Chazournes has received the Elizabeth Haub Prize for Environmental Law (2008) and was a member of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace (2015-2017).  The list of her publications can be accessed through the following hyperlink: https://www.unige.ch/droit/collaborateur/professeurs/boisson-de-chazournes-laurence/publications/

Professor Anita Ramasastry
Henry M. Jackson Professor of Law
Faculty Director, International, Transnational and Comparative Law Programs
Director, Sustainable International Development LLM Program University of Washington School of Law

Professor Anita Ramasastry is the Henry M. Jackson Professor of Law and Director of the Sustainable International Development Graduate Program at the University of Washington.  She has been a member of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights since 2016 and leads its work on topics such as the financial sector, human rights due diligence, business and conflict.  Ramasastry is also one of the founding editors in chief of the Business and Human Rights Journal.  She teaches and researches in the areas of business and human rights, international commercial law and development and anti-corruption.

Dr Romesh Weeramantry
Head, International Dispute Resolution, Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore

Dr Romesh Weeramantry is the Head of International Dispute Settlement at the Centre for International Law at NUS and an Adjunct Professor at the NUS Faculty of Law. In addition, he is a Senior Consultant at Clifford Chance in Singapore, specialising international commercial arbitration and investor-State disputes. His career has included positions as a Legal Officer at the United Nations Compensation Commission (Geneva) and a Legal Advisor to the President of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal (The Hague). His publications include Treaty Interpretation in Investment Arbitration (Oxford University Press 2012); and International Commercial Arbitration: An Asia-Pacific Perspective (Cambridge University Press 2011). He is a General Editor of the Asian Dispute Review and a member of the Editorial Board of the ICSID Review.

Gareth Hughes
Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Gareth Hughes is a partner in the firm’s Hong Kong office and a member of the International Dispute Resolution Group. His practice focusses on major commercial litigation, international arbitration and white collar / regulatory defense matters.

With over 25 years’ experience in the region, Mr. Hughes advises major corporates, financial institutions and high net worth individuals in connection with complex commercial disputes, often with a cross-border component to them. His matters involve proceedings in the courts or before arbitral institutions, including arbitrations under the HKIAC, LCIA, SIAC, CIETAC, UNCITRAL and ICC rules.

He also frequently advises on internal and regulatory investigations, including in particular those involving the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Independent Commission Against Corruption. His work has encompassed financial services, corporate finance, private wealth, fraud, private equity, insurance, judicial review and shareholder related matters.