Researchers' Activities

CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr Tan Hsien-Li presented a paper and presentation on ‘Reputational Risks in the Post-Charter ASEAN: Rules-based Reformation or Rhetorical Repetition’ at a symposium organised by the New Zealand Centre for Public Law and the International Law Association (New Zealand Branch), on International Organisations and the Rule of Law: Perils and Promise, which was held at the Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Law from 7-8 December 2015.

CIL Research Fellow Junianto James Losari was invited to speak at the Asia FDI Forum on 5-6 November 2015 in Hong Kong. James presented his paper “Searching for An Ideal Investment Protection Regime for ASEAN+ Dialogue Partners in RCEP: Where Do We Begin?” in which he discussed the baseline study and the method he used to better advise Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiators in the negotiation of the RCEP’s investment chapter. The Forum was jointly organised by the Centre for Financial Regulation and the Economic Development and Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (Columbia University) and sponsored by Oxfam Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Faculty of Law). It was attended by legal scholars and practitioners, economists, officers of international organisations and NGOs in Asia Pacific. To view his presentation, click here.

CIL Research Fellow Junianto James Losari was invited to speak at the Art of Negotiating Trade and Investment Agreements Workshop: Taking Into Account the Global Tobacco Treaty. The workshop was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand on 25-26 June 2015. It was attended by academics and government officials from the Ministry of Health in the region. James spoke about the ‘Investment Framework from the ASEAN Perspective’ and its implication on tobacco control measures taken by ASEAN Members. He highlighted the importance of ASEAN Members to terminate their intra-ASEAN BITs, which do not provide enough policy space for States to take tobacco control measures without incurring liability. On the other hand, the newer generation International Investment Agreements, such as the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement and other ASEAN + Dialogue Partner(s) Investment Agreements contain general exceptions clauses that allow States to take measures to protect its public health, including tobacco control measures without incurring any liability. However, ASEAN Members must carefully formulate their measures to fulfil the requirements of such clauses.

On 3-5 June 2015, the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL), together with the Ministry of Justice of Thailand and the Thailand Institute of Justice, held the AsianSIL Inter-Sessional Conference on ‘The Rule of Law and Development Nexus: A New Deal for Asia?’ in Bangkok, Thailand. A/P Michael Ewing-Chow was invited to speak on a panel on ‘International Law and ASEAN Integration’ and delivered his presentation entitled ‘Outcomes and Costs – Towards A Just Peace’. CIL Research Fellow Leonardo Bernard, CIL Research Fellow Ranyta Yusran and CIL Research Associate Chang Ya Lan also attended the conference. To download A/P Michael Ewing-Chow’s presentation, click here.

CIL Researchers Leonardo Bernard, Harpreet Kaur Dillon, Hao Duy Phan, Sun Zhen and Ranyta Yusran participated in the 12th Annual Asian Law Institute Conference – “Law 2.0: New Challenges in Asia” on 21-22 May 2015 in Taipei, Taiwan. The Conference was jointly organised by the National University of Taiwan and the Asian Law Institute. At the Conference, CIL researchers made various presentations on different topics of international law and chaired different panels. Dr Zhen Sun and Mr Leonardo Bernard spoke at a panel on international law with a particular focus on the law of the sea. Dr Zhen Sun made a presentation on “A Hot Land in A Cold Place: Opportunities and Challenges for Singapore in the Arctic” (download in PDF) and Mr Leonardo Bernard made a presentation on “Historic Fishing Rights and the EEZ” (download in PDF). Dr Hao Duy Phan and Ms Harpreet Dhillon participated in two different panels on international law and spoke about “ASEAN’s Legal Personality and its Treaty-Making Power” (download in PDF) and “Consolidation of Claims Arising under an International Investment Agreement: What is at Stake?” (download in PDF) respectively. Ms Ranyta Yusran was a panellist at the panel on cross-border issues. She made a presentation on “Mapping the ASEAN Framework on Transnational Crime” (download in PDF).

CIL Research Fellow Junianto James Losari was invited by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia to present his research on the investment chapters in various ASEAN + Dialogue Partners Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in the 1st Workshop on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which was held on 20-21st May 2015 in Tokyo, Japan. The Workshop was attended by scholars (mostly economists) from various universities in Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines. James presented his paper titled, ‘Searching for an Ideal International Investment Protection Regime for ASEAN + Dialogue Partners (RCEP): Where do we Begin?’ The paper conducted a baseline study of various provisions contained in various BITs, regional investment agreements and investment chapters of FTAs among ASEAN and its Dialogue Partners. He also proposed that RCEP should be used as an opportunity to consolidate the existing investment agreements to solve parallelism caused by the spaghetti bowl phenomenon of investment agreements among the negotiating parties. The Workshop is expected to produce a report for RCEP negotiators that can support the negotiating process.

CIL Head of Trade/Investment Law and Policy Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow was invited by the ASEAN Secretariat and the World Trade Institute (WTI) to speak at the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) Forum on “Transforming Investment in ASEAN through ACIA”, which was held on 15 April 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia. He shared his views about how ASEAN could be transformed into an investment hub by the ACIA and the potential benefits of ACIA to Indonesia. He also chaired a session on “The experience of the Indonesian and Third-Country Businesses in Investing in ASEAN”. The speakers of the session included Indonesian business leaders from Indofood, Semen Indonesia and XL Axiata, as well as Mr Rizar Indomo Nazaroedin, Director of Regional Cooperation of the Indonesian Investment Coordination Board (BKPM).

CIL Head of Trade/Investment Law and Policy Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow was invited by the ASEAN Secretariat and the World Trade Institute (WTI) to train Indonesian government officials during a two-day seminar (15-16 April 2015) on the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA). The theme of the seminar was how ACIA could be used to attract investments to Indonesia.

CIL Director Professor Robert Beckman was invited to speak in a panel discussion on “ASEAN Integration: An Economic Community in 2015?” organised by the Asia Foundation in Washington DC on 8 April 2015. The other two speakers on the panel were Edmund W. Sim, CIL Global Associate, Partner, Appleton Luff and Natalie Y. Morris-Sharma, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Singapore to the UN, who presented the books that they co-authored in the CIL ASEAN Integration Through Law (ASEAN ITL) Series published by Cambridge University Press: The Foundation of the ASEAN Economic Community – An Institutional and Legal Profile by Stefano Inama and Edmund W. Sim and From Treaty-Making to Treaty-Breaking – Models for ASEAN External Trade Agreements.

CIL Head of Trade/Investment Law and Policy Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow was invited to speak on “The ASEAN Way to Interpret Integration” at the Asian Legal Business ASEAN Integration Summit on 26 March 2015 in Singapore.

CIL Head of Trade/Investment Law and Policy Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL Research Fellow Junianto James Losari were invited by IELPO LL.M Programme to teach the course of Regionalism in Asia. The course, which was held on 12-13 March 2015, engaged the students in interactive discussions on Asia’s experience in economic integration, particularly the Southeast Asian States within the ASEAN.

CIL Head of Trade/Investment Law and Policy Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL Research Fellow Junianto James Losari were invited by Universidad Sergio Arboleda in Colombia to teach in its Madrid campus. The course was attended by Colombian students as part of their course in Masters in International Commerce. The intensive course, which was held on 4-6 March 2015, discussed various aspects of ASEAN Integration and how it contributed to the improvement of the rule of law in the region.

CIL Research Fellow Ms Ranyta Yusran was invited to participate in the Second Conference on the ‘Historical Origin of International Criminal Law’ (HOICL) in New Delhi, India on 29-30 November 2014. Ms Yusran presented a paper that she was invited to contribute entitled ‘Transitional Justice Delayed or Denied? A Case Study of Southeast Asia and Indonesia’. The Conference was organised by the Centre for International Law Research and Policy (CILRAP), the European University Institute and Peking University. The Conference proceedings will be published in the last instalment of CILRAP’s trilogy on the HOICL. Other contributors consisted of judges and law practitioners from numerous international criminal tribunals as well as international criminal law scholars. To view her presentation, please click here.

CIL Head of Trade Law and Policy Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL Research Fellow Ranyta Yusran participated in the Legitimacy of International Trade Tribunals Meeting in Geneva on 17-18 October 2014, where they presented their paper on the ASEAN trade dispute settlement mechanism. The meeting was organised by PluriCourts of University of Oslo, Norway as the first editorial meeting for a book on international trade tribunals. Other contributors came from Europe, the United States, Canada, Africa and Latin America. Please click on the following links for their working paper and presentation titled ‘If You Build It, They Still Will Not Come: ASEAN Trade Dispute Settlement Mechanism’.

CIL Research Associate Junianto James Losari was invited to speak about the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) before representatives of various ministries of the Republic of Myanmar as part of a capacity building seminar on investment organised by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia and the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development (NPED). More than 50 government officials attended this seminar, which was held on 27 September 2014 at Hotel Sedona in Yangon. In his presentation, James emphasised the importance of improving governance and the rule of law in the country, as well as ensuring that Myanmar’s new regulations and policies comply with the ACIA in order to minimise the costly risks of litigation. For a photo from the event, click here.

CIL Research Fellow Ranyta Yusran participated in the 2014 International Law Association (ILA) Regional Conference on ‘Towards a Universal Justice? Putting International Courts and Jurisdiction into Perspective’ at the Lisbon University Law School, Portugal, from 11-12 September 2014. Ms Yusran presented a paper that she co-authored with CIL Head of Trade Law and Policy Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow entitled ‘If You Build It, They Still Will Not Come: ASEAN Dispute Settlement and Intra-ASEAN Disputes’ in Session 4 of the Conference concerning Dispute Settlement. The Conference was organised by the Lisbon University Law School and the Portuguese branch of the ILA and was attended by legal academics and practitioners from all over Europe. This is CIL’s second participation in ILA regional conferences. For a copy of her presentation, click here.

CIL Head of Trade/Investment Law and Policy Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow was invited to speak at the Inaugural ASEAN Center Seminar of the Richardson School of Law, Hawaii on 29 August 2014. He spoke on “ASEAN 2015 Integration and the Impact on CMLV Member States”.

Dr R. Navin, CIL Deputy Director, participated in a panel discussion on ASEAN: Past, Present and Future in conjunction with the Closing Ceremony of the Singapore Model United Nations on 6 June 2014. Also on the panel were ISEAS Deputy Director Dr Ooi Kee Beng and Assoc Prof Alan Chong from RSIS. Prof Terry Nardin, Head of the NUS Department of Political Science, presided over the closing ceremony. For a photo from the event, click here.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr. Hao Duy Phan participated at the 11th Annual Asian Law Institute (ASLI) Conference – “Law in Asia: Balancing Tradition and Modernization” on 29-30 May 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Conference was jointly organized by the University of Malaya and the Asian Law Institute (ASLI). At the Conference, Dr. Hao Duy Phan made a presentation on ASEAN and Maritime Security. He also chaired a session on Environmental Law. To download Dr. Hao Duy Phan’s PowerPoint Presentation, click here.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr. Hao Duy Phan was invited to speak at the ASEAN Regional Workshop on “The Promulgation of Laws and Regulations of ASEAN Member States: A Comparative Study” on 23-24 April 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Hao Duy Phan delivered a presentation on “Treaty-Making and the Status of Treaties in ASEAN Member States: An Overview”. The Workshop was jointly organized by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia and the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC). More than 100 participants from ASEAN Member States attended the Workshop. To download Hao Duy Phan’s PowerPoint Presentation, click here.

Professor Joseph Weiler, Director of the CIL ASEAN Integration Through Law Project (President of the European University Institute; NUS Law School; and University Professor at the NYU School of Law (on-leave)) convened and chaired the discussions on the ASEAN Economic Community at Plenary 4 of the ASEAN Integration Through Law Project: The ASEAN Economic Community at the Sofitel Plaza Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam. CIL senior expert, Professor Michael-Ewing-Chow, shared his work on the ASEAN economic integration and investment regime. He also co-taught the Course Development Workshop on Investment during the event. This Plenary was hosted jointly with the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. For more information, please click here.

CIL Director Robert Beckman made a presentation titled “Role of ASEAN and the Philippines v China Case” on 4 April 2013 at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law in Washington DC. Prof Beckman served on a Panel on Legal Solutions to Maritime Disputes in Asia, and he spoke about the South China Sea Disputes. The other members of the panel were Rosalyn Higgins, past President of the International Court of Justice; Loretta Malintoppi, Eversheds LLP Paris; and Galo Carrera Hurtado, Member of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. The Panel was chaired by Prof Nilufer Oral of the Faculty of Law of Istanbul Bilgi University. For a copy of Prof Beckman’s PowerPoint slides in PDF format, click here.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr Tan Hsien-Li presented her paper on “International Human Rights Law, Regional Mechanisms and ASEAN: Disconnected Paradigms” at the European University Institute’s Human Rights Day Colloquium held in Florence, Italy.

CIL researchers participated in the 4th Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law in New Delhi, India on 14-16 November 2013. They presented their papers in a panel titled “ASEAN: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. CIL Research Fellow Dr Hao Duy PHAN opened the Panel with a discussion on ASEAN’s role on intra-regional security (download in PDF format) followed by a presentation from CIL Research Fellow Mr Leonardo BERNARD on the use of extra-ASEAN dispute settlement mechanisms for ASEAN disputes (download in PDF format). The third presentation was delivered by CIL Research Associate Ms Ranyta YUSRAN on ASEAN and human rights (download in PDF format). Finally, Professor Michael Ewing Chow, Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy of CIL, concluded the panel with a presentation on the purpose-driven architecture of dispute settlement and suggestions to strengthen the architecture of ASEAN (download in PDF format). The Panel was chaired by Professor Simon Chesterman, Dean of NUS Law Faculty. [View photo from event.]

On 22 – 25 October 2013, CIL Research Associates Mr. Junianto James LOSARI and Ms. Ranyta YUSRAN attended the 2013 Padjdjaran International Legal Conference Series, “Regional Perspectives on Law and Human Rights: Where are we not and where are we heading?” in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. The Conference was organised by the Law Faculty of Padjadjaran University and opened by the Dean of Universitas Padjadjaran. Mr. LOSARI presented his paper on “ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement: Will Indonesia’s BITs Obligations be Irrelevant?” and Ms. YUSRAN presented her paper on “Combating Trafficking in Women and Children in Southeast Asia: the ASEAN Framework”. The Conference was attended by participants coming from, among others, Japan, Australia, the United States, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan. To download Mr LOSARI’s paper, click here. To download his Power Point Slides in PDF format, click here. To download Ms YUSRAN’s Power Point Slides in PDF format, click here.