Journal Articles & Book Reviews

Globalization and Regulatory Change: The Interplay of Laws and Technologies in E-Commerce in Southeast Asia

Electronic commerce has brought about business and technological changes globally, and these global changes have given rise to major legal reforms across nations. In the fast-changing global digital economy, states need strategies to maintain competitiveness of their markets while simultaneously ensuring the secure and effective use of technologies involved in conducting electronic transactions. This paper …

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International Agreements Between Nonstate Actors as A Source of International Law

International issues that are resolved traditionally through agreements between states are managed currently through agreements between government agencies and corporate entities. Government agencies and corporate entities are nonstate actors that have no formal capacity to engage in international lawmaking. Are their international agreements a source of international law?

International Courts and State Compliance: An Investigation of the Law of the Sea Cases

This article investigates the effect of dispute settlement decisions under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and whether and how states, particularly great powers, comply with these decisions. State practice suggests that an overwhelming majority of the decisions by UNCLOS dispute settlement bodies have been implemented. Significantly, not only …

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Air Defence Identification Zones: Implications for Freedom of Overflight and Maritime Disputes

On November 23, 2013, China declared an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea. This ADIZ overlaps with the existing ADIZs of Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The Chinese ADIZ raised concerns from various governments and commentators in the region. First, does this ADIZ violate the principle of freedom of overflight in areas …

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The Dispute Concerning the Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary Between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire: Implications for the Law of the Sea

The final judgment in the maritime boundary delimitation case between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire was delivered by an ad hoc special chamber (the Chamber) of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on 23 September 2017. The decision addressed important legal questions relating not only to maritime boundary delimitation but also to …

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Promotional Versus Protective Design: The Case of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights

This paper examines the role of international human rights institutions and their designs, by bringing to bear evidence from the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). It draws attention to the distinction between the protective and the promotional design aspects of this institution, showing that the AICHR is, by design, not a protective mechanism. …

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Report of the Conference on Climate Change and the Law of the Sea: Adapting the Law of the Sea to Address the Challenges of Climate Change

This article summarises and discusses the main issues addressed at the conference hosted by the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore in March 2018 on ‘Climate Change and the Law of the Sea: Adapting the Law of the Sea to Address the Challenges of Climate Change‘. The conference covered topics including …

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Inter-State Compulsory Conciliation Procedures and the Maritime Boundary Dispute Between Timor-Leste and Australia

This article examines the origin and nature of the compulsory conciliation procedure under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and how it has played out in the conciliation between Timor-Leste and Australia—the first time this procedure has been triggered. The article identifies the features of the UNCLOS conciliation procedure—many …

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Legal Implications of the ‘South China Sea Award’ for Maritime Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, consisting of the ten Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has always been a uniquely maritime region. Indeed, its maritime nature has been characterised as the ‘first and primary unifying factor of Southeast Asia’. Nine out of the ten ASEAN States are coastal States, with the Philippines and Indonesia …

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