Researchers' Activities

Research Associate Daniel Nicholas Pakpahan presented a paper titled “Sea-level rise and migration: Beyond the mainstream international law vocabulary” at the Trinity College Dublin Symposium on Climate Change and Migration.

IAReporter is an editorially-independent news publisher focusing on the international law that applies to foreign investment, particularly the international investment treaties and arbitration claims that arise in this context.

The Nepal National Rounds was held in Kathmandu from 1 to 3 March 2024. Daniel judged the preliminary rounds and the semifinal round of the competition. Eleven teams participated in this year’s competition, a record high in the history of Jessup Nepal, and the national champion title went to Kathmandu School of Law. National champions will compete in the White & Case Jessup International Rounds in Washington, DC, USA, on 30 March to 6 April 2024.

CIL has been an official observer to Working Group III since 2017, when the Working Group’s mandate began.

On 24 November 2023, the Centre for International Law (CIL), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and University College London (UCL) jointly organised an in-person, closed-door, off-the-record meeting on investment treaties and climate change for ASEAN-Plus government officials in Singapore. This in-person meeting was a follow up to a virtual meeting held on 25 May 2023, which focused on the investment treaty regime, its impact on high-carbon and other investment incentives, and its interaction with policies designed to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Following an introductory presentation of the Paris Agreement and key recent climate developments, the in-person meeting proceeded to discussion of whether investment treaties can contribute to addressing climate change, and how to ensure that investment treaties do not hinder the achievement of climate goals.

Under the question “Is the World Without Investment Arbitration, a World With(out) Justice?”, the conference sought to map out different paradigms of international investment regulation in a post-reformed ISDS, and also a post-ISDS, world. Dr Giannakopoulos participated in the discussion with a presentation entitled “Justice in ISDS and the Search for Community”, which addressed the question of ISDS’ “audience” in the system’s current and potentially reformed state.

The full programme and informal documents prepared for the Sixth Intersessional Meeting of Working Group III are available here.

The panel was moderated by Professor N. Jansen Calamita, Head, Investment Law & Policy, at CIL. Discussants on the panel were Ms Young Shin Um, Senior Deputy Director, International Dispute Settlement Division, Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea, and Ms Lai Thị Vân Anh, Deputy Director General, Department of International Law of the Ministry of Justice of Viet Nam.

The webinar was livestreamed on Facebook, and the video recording of the event is available here.

TRILA Team co-organised the Junior Scholar Workshop at the University of Indonesia, Faculty of Law.

On 11 July 2022, Senior Research Fellow Charalampos Giannakopoulos participated in the conference “International Trade and Business Law: Present and a Decade Ahead”, which was organised by the University of Law, Viet Nam National University.

Government officials from Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam participated in the discussion, which was moderated by N. Jansen Calamita, Head, Investment Law & Policy, CIL. David Gaukrodger, Senior Legal Adviser, OECD Investment Division, and Professor Lauge Poulsen, Chair, OECD Project on Climate Change and Investment, took part in the discussion, which allowed participants to improve their understanding of regional interests, priorities and policies for the climate and investment. 

N. Jansen Calamita – After the Treaty is Signed: Do States Internalise Investment Treaty Commitments in Their Decision Making?

One necessary step to limit global warming is to phase out fossil fuel production, which can deprive the value of foreign investments and amount to breaches of investment treaties.

The mandate of Working Group III is to develop reforms to the existing regime of investor-state dispute settlement. CIL has been an official observer to Working Group III since 2017, when the Working Group’s mandate began.

The original writeup was submitted to the OECD’s Public Consultation on Investment Treaties and Climate Change.

CIL Postdoctoral Fellow, Stefanie Schacherer, became an Advisor for the Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network (ARTNET) on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

CIL Postdoctoral Fellow, Stefanie Schacherer was elected Member of the Academic Forum on investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS).

This webinar was organised by the U.S.-Asia Law Institute

Research Associate Professor N. Jansen Calamita and Postdoctoral Fellow Charalampos Giannakopoulos took part in the resumed 40^th session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law’s (UNCITRAL) Working Group III, representing CIL in its position as an official observer. The session took place online from UNCITRAL’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

Postdoctoral Fellow Neha Mishra participated in the Taiwan Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2020: One World, One Internet, which was held on 11 and 12 November. Dr Mishra participated in the session ‘The WTO’s Digital Trade Initiative: Implications for Asian Policies’, with Erika Mann (Covington and Burlington LLP), Roy Chun Lee (Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research), and Tsai-fang Chen (National Chiao Tung University). The session was moderated by William Drake (University of Zurich).

Dr Mishra’s online presentation was based on her research on the WTO’s ongoing negotiations on e-commerce under the plurilateral Joint Statement Initiative (JSI). She discussed the various proposals made by WTO members on e-commerce, especially in the context of how the proposed trade rules will impact internet governance focussing on cross-border data flows, data localisation, privacy protection, cybersecurity and source code disclosure requirements. Thereafter, she provided her inputs on the dynamics in the negotiations between developed and developing countries as well as the ongoing tech war between the US and China. She concluded that given the divergence of perspectives on e-commerce rules among WTO members, any short-term outcomes in the ongoing JSI negotiations appear unlikely. The outcome, especially in the short run, could be a very basic agreement covering relatively uncontroversial areas such as spam, e-signatures, e-authentication, and online consumer protection. Difficult data governance issues will continue to remain unresolved.

The Centre for International Law announces the release of the APEC Handbook on Obligations in International Investment Treaties. Written by the Centre’s Head of Investment Law & Policy, N Jansen Calamita, with the support of the Australian Government, the APEC Handbook is designed to help non-specialist government officials understand investment treaty obligations and the way they are applied to the day-to-day business of government. It is the first international resource of its kind and provides a valuable tool to help host economies manage their international obligations and take steps to avoid investment treaty disputes.

Dr Neha Mishra presented her postdoctoral research on the interface of cybersecurity and international economic law at the online Geneva Trade Week. The session she participated in was titled ‘Competition and Innovation in the Digital Age: Pro Innovation Domestic and International Governance for Digitally Enabled Services’, and was sponsored by the Institute for International Trade at the University of Adelaide, and Trade and Investment in Services Associates. Her co-panellists were Jane Drake-Brockman (moderator), Hildegunn Nordas, Pascal Kerneis and Bryan Mercurio.

Her presentation focussed on two points:
(i) Trade and cybersecurity can share a symbiotic relationship, but the economic costs to digital trade is very high when countries impose restrictive unilateral cybersecurity laws, regulations and policies. Such measures are also dangerous for global cybersecurity governance.
(ii) International trade agreements have an impact on both the domestic and global cybersecurity regulatory framework. International trade agreements can check protectionism by ‘disguised cybersecurity measures’ and thereby create more open, competitive conditions for global digital trade. International trade agreements can play a facilitative role based on the symbiotic relationship of trade and cybersecurity.

Dr Mishra highlighted that trade institutions can facilitate international regulatory cooperation and create a more robust environment for digital trade, by encouraging interoperability of data regulations and standards, and transparent, open, representative, globally competitive and market-driven cybersecurity standards and best practices.

Postdoctoral Fellow Neha Mishra has been awarded the 2020 University of Melbourne Chancellor’s Prize for her doctoral thesis, ‘When Data Flows Across Borders: Aligning International Trade Law with Internet Policy Objectives’. The prestigious prize is awarded for scholarly excellence, international recognition and impact of the research, and the University of Melbourne confers the annual award to six PhD graduates from different disciplines. Dr Mishra was supervised by Professors Tania Voon and Andrew Mitchell.

On 29 May 2020, Postdoctoral Fellow Neha Mishra spoke on ‘International Trade Law: Implications for Data Governance’ on a public webinar organised by Ikigai Law, a leading technology law firm based in India. The session focussed on the growing incidence of privacy and cybersecurity measures that impede trans-border flows of digital data, and the ways that international trade rules could be applied to discipline such measures. In particular, Dr Mishra spoke on the role of the exceptions in international trade agreements in balancing trade liberalisation goals with internet policy goals. This session also highlighted the role of international trade agreements in promoting good internet governance and the political economy of data localisation measures, especially in India.

Postdoctoral Fellow Neha Mishra co-authors UNESCAP Paper on “Digital Trade Integration in Preferential Trade Agreements”

On 18 May 2020, Postdoctoral Fellow Charalampos Giannakopoulos presented his paper ‘Coherence, Reflective Thinking, and Investment Arbitration’ at the Online International Economic Law Research Marathon 2020, which was hosted virtually by the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The online conference on 17–29 May replaced the 9th PEPA-SIEL Conference 2020. PEPA-SIEL conferences provide an environment for emerging academics and professionals in the field of international economic law to present and discuss their research.

Drawing from the work of authors such as John Dewey and Donald Schön, Dr Giannakopoulos argued that reflection and reflective thinking are manifestations of an ideal of coherence in the justificatory aspect of adjudication. Reflective thinking involves iterative processes of problem setting, identifying possible solutions, and testing them for their congruence with one’s background theories. Transposed to adjudication, this implies that judicial reasoning involves a constant process of experimentation in practice, by posing hypotheses (framing), testing them, and assessing their consequences for their congruence with the decision-maker’s considered judgments regarding the regime’s ends and his or her institutional role in it. Using concrete examples from investment arbitration, the paper showcases the importance of practising reflective thinking at various levels during the legal reasoning process.

Postdoctoral Fellow Neha Mishra has been awarded the 2019 Harold Luntz Research Prize for her doctoral thesis ‘When Data Flows Across Borders: Aligning International Trade Law with Internet Policy Objectives’. The prize is awarded annually to the best thesis in Melbourne Law School. In her thesis, Dr Mishra investigated how international trade law applies to government restrictions on data flows and whether it can be aligned with their internet policy objectives. She demonstrated that such an alignment can be achieved by interpreting, applying and reforming trade rules consistent with fundamental principles of internet governance. Dr Mishra was supervised by Professor Tania Voon and Professor Andrew D Mitchell at Melbourne Law School.

Senior Research Fellow Dr Ayelet Berman has been elected Vice Chair of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) International Organizations Interest Group for a three-year term. Next year she will take the Co-Chair position.

The ASIL’s International Organizations Interest Group is comprised of over 600 members and is a forum for dialogue among legal scholars and practitioners seeking to exchange ideas on global governance in all its diversity. 

Research Associate Professor (CIL) N Jansen Calamita, Head of CIL’s Investment Law and Policy Programme, presented the finalised draft of APEC Handbook on Obligations in International Investment Treaties, in a side event organised by the Australian government at the 38th session of UNCITRAL Working Group III held in Vienna.

The APEC Handbook project is funded by the Australian government and is designed to assist non-specialist, front-line government officials to better understand and implement international investment commitments. 

CIL participated as observer in the resumed 38th session of UNCITRAL Working Group III held in Vienna, Austria on 20–24 January 2020. CIL was represented by Research Associate Professor (CIL) N Jansen Calamita, Head of CIL’s Investment Law and Policy Programme, and Postdoctoral fellow Charalampos Giannakopoulos.

The Working Group brings together more than 200 government officials, UN officials and NGO representatives, with a mandate to identify concerns raised by the current mechanisms for resolving investor-State disputes, discuss the desirability of reform, and propose relevant solutions. During the resumed meeting in Vienna, discussions focussed on (i) the likely features and modalities of an appellate mechanism or a multilateral investment court to hear investment disputes; (ii) the possible sources and methods of financing such institutions; and (iii) the selection and appointment of adjudicators in a reformed system.

Research Associate Professor (CIL) Calamita and Dr Giannakopoulos contributed to the discussions by raising the question of enforcement of the awards produced by a possible appellate mechanism or a multilateral investment court, framing it against the existing legal framework, and presenting delegations with the associated challenges that would have to be overcome.

Postdoctoral Fellow Neha Mishra presented a paper titled ‘Unravelling the Trade—Cybersecurity Dilemma: Justifying Cybersecurity Measures in International Trade Law’ at the conference on International Economic Law and Security Interests. The conference was organised by Amsterdam Centre for International Law at the University of Amsterdam, and the European Society of International Law.  

The paper is about the various measures adopted by governments to address cybersecurity-related concerns. Some of these measures restrict cross-border flows of digital services/data and are thus inconsistent with obligations in trade agreements such as General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). However, certain governments might argue that such measures are justified under the GATS security exception (art XIVbis), as they protect national security. This paper investigates whether GATS art XIVbis is relevant in justifying cybersecurity measures and its potential impact on cybersecurity governance. Ms Mishra argues that GATS art XIVbis has limited relevance and is potentially problematic, when used in justifying majority of cybersecurity measures. First, a large majority of cybersecurity measures do not fall within the limited set of exceptional circumstances listed in GATS art XIVbis. Further, in applying this exception to cybersecurity measures, WTO Panels will be unfairly forced to balance trade and security interests in an environment of political, technological and policy uncertainty. Given these practical limitations and the normative boundaries of GATS art XIVbis, countries must avoid casually relying upon security exceptions as a basis for adopting/implementing unilateral measures on cybersecurity, but rather engage in meaningful cyber-diplomacy and regulatory cooperation mechanisms to resolve their differences on cybersecurity governance.

Postdoctoral Fellow Neha Mishra presented her paper titled ‘International Trade Law and Data Ethics: Possibilities and Challenges’ at the 6th Biennial Asian Economic Law Network Conference. The conference was held in Taipei on 25–27 October and was organised by National Tsing-Hua University; Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan; Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, National Tsing Hua University; and The Erasmus+ Program of the European Union.

Ms Mishra argued that the inherent tension between promoting data/digital innovation and ensuring ethical data management is likely to surface in international trade law, and is particularly prominent when data restrictive measures are examined under exceptions in international trade agreements. This tension appears irresolvable due to the technological uncertainty surrounding the future evolution and uses of AI and Big Data and the absence of international norms on data governance. Although international trade law cannot directly resolve these tensions, trade policymakers should remain open and responsive to relevant policy dialogues on data governance in various governmental and multistakeholder fora. Ms Mishra argued that by doing so, international trade law can play a more proactive and transformative role in dealing with ethical issues in data governance—addressing not only infrastructure-related issues (eg, access to telecommunications networks) but also regulatory concerns such as facilitating international cooperation on data policies, supporting internationally recognised internet standards, promoting fair competition and transparency in domestic data policies, and ensuring digital inclusion of developing countries. Trade rules should also not require countries to compromise on their data policies necessary for ethical reasons so as to participate in global digital markets. Although these outcomes appear ambitious, the ongoing dialogues at WTO on electronic commerce provide an opportunity to generate political goodwill and enhance cooperation among countries to achieve these results.

On 19–20 September 2019, the CIL hosted representatives of ten Asia-Pacific economies in Singapore for a workshop on the management of the reform of investment treaty portfolios. The workshop was convened by Research Associate Professor (CIL) N Jansen Calamita (Head, Investment Law and Policy) and attended by CIL researchers Dr Romesh Weeramantry (Head, International Dispute Resolution) and Dr Charalampos Giannakopoulos (Post-doctoral Fellow).

Participants discussed a broad range of issues, including the challenges of successfully updating and managing a country’s investment treaty portfolio, approaches to treaty drafting, options for reform of the ISDS regime, managing the coexistence of ‘reformed’ and ‘unreformed’ treaties in state treaty portfolios, and developing and implementing effective procedures for dispute avoidance and prevention.

The workshop is part of CIL’s broader research focus on international investment law and policy and international dispute resolution.

Research Fellows Amber Rose Maggio and Dafina Atanasova participated in the 16th ASLI (Asian Law Institute) conference on ‘The Rule of Law and the Role of Law in Asia’. Dr Maggio gave a presentation on ‘Regional Cooperation for the Protection of the Marine Environment in Southeast Asia: Can Other Regions Provide Inspiration?’ She presented CIL’s work on this topic and some ideas about best practices and shared experiences.

Dr Atanasova presented her paper titled ‘Investment Treaties Viewed from Inside the Lion City’. The paper is part of the broader research project on ‘Investment Treaties and National Governance’ (headed by CIL Research Associate Professor Jansen Calamita), studying the extent to which the administrations of Asian states take investment treaties into account in their decision-making processes. Based on a series of interviews with government officials in Singapore and documentary research, the paper opens the ‘black box’ of the Lion City and looks at the impact of investment treaties on its governance. A unitary compact state, Singapore is considered to work as a well-oiled machine and provides a very fruitful terrain for testing some of the core tenets of arguments on investment treaties’ impacts on governance.

Research Fellow Dafina Atanasova participated in a two-day workshop titled ‘Engaging with Domestic Law in International Adjudication Factfinding or Transnational Law-Making?’ organised by the Amsterdam Center for International Law under the University of Amsterdam.

Dr Atanasova’s presentation—‘What Do We Actually Disagree About When Discussing the Fact-Law Dichotomy in International Adjudicators’ Engagement with Domestic Law?’—kick-started the workshop in a panel chaired by Professor Ingo Venzke. The paper demonstrates that the classic way of seeing domestic law in international adjudication along a fact-law divide serves as a rhetorical device with limited analytical import. Looking at the practice of investment arbitrators and WTO adjudicators, the paper brings to light the fallacy of relying on whether an adjudicator classifies domestic law as either ‘law’ or ‘fact’ for understanding its actual procedural place. It proposes a more granular analytical framework for this understanding, informed by questions that define the procedural place of foreign law in conflict of laws and suggesting the ‘otherness’ of domestic law as a more attuned lens. Indeed, judicial practice in both conflict of laws and international economic law shows that it is the recognition that different legal systems are habitually created, adjudicated and enforced by distinct, ie ‘other’ institutions, which better explains adjudicators’ approaches, independently of the formal characterisation of the ‘other’ law along a fact-law divide.

On 13 February 2019, Director Lucy Reed participated in the conference on ‘ISDS Reform: Mapping the Way Forward’ organised by the Asian Academy of International Law (AAIL) and the Hong Kong SAR Department of Justice. The welcoming speakers included Ms Teresa Cheng GBS SC JP, the Hong Kong SAR Secretary for Justice. The conference featured four panels—Investment Mediation, Appeal Mechanism for ISDS Awards, Third Party Funding in ISDS and Appointment of Arbitrators—and an Oxford Union style Debate on whether a Permanent Investment Court is a possible solution to ISDS problems. In an innovative approach, each panel had the benefit of a detailed discussion paper by a young private or government practitioner.

Professor Reed spoke on the Investment Mediation panel, on the topic of how to incentivise host governments and investors to use investor-State mediation. Also on the panel were (as pictured) Dr Anthony Neoh (AAIL Chairman), Professor Jack Coe from Pepperdine Law School and Paul Starr from King & Wood Mallesons. The discussion paper was from David Ng of the Hong Kong SAR Department of Justice.

On 29 January 2019, CIL participated in the 73rd meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Investment (CCI) held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. The meeting was attended by Research Associate Professor (CIL) N Jansen Calamita, Head of CIL’s Investment Law and Policy Programme, and CIL Visiting Research Consultant Dr Charalampos Giannakopoulos.

The meeting was convened to discuss, among others, proposals being put forward internationally on the topic of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform. Research Assoc Prof Calamita delivered a presentation, addressing the drivers for ISDS reform, available reform options, and modalities through which different reform options may be implemented.

CIL’s participation in the work of the ASEAN CCI is part of the Centre’s broader engagement with the topic of appellate mechanisms and standing tribunals in the settlement of investor-state disputes.

Research Associate Professor N Jansen Calamita was the lead facilitator at two-day regional forum in Manila on ‘Investment Disputes, Resolution and Prevention.’ The forum was organised by the Philippine Board of Investment, with support from the ASEAN Secretariat, under the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) Economic Cooperation Support Program (AECSP). The forum aimed to support AANZFTA Parties on effectively managing commitments, improving investor confidence in the AANZFTA investment environment, and increasing government confidence in investment policy making.

Research Assoc Prof Calamita noted that the forum served as an opportunity to share experiences among the AANZFTA Parties and helped build the capacities of participants in considering measures for the implementation and management of investment treaty commitments.

Dr Ayelet Berman presented a paper at the American Society of International Law Research Forum at UCLA. The paper is on ‘Investment Treaties and National Governance’, co-written with Research Associate Professor N Jansen Calamita. The paper sets out a conceptual framework for examining the internalisation of investment treaties in national governance. It is the draft framing paper of a project on ‘Investment Treaties and National Governance’ launched by CIL’s Investment Law and Policy research group, which examines the internalisation of investment treaties in a select group of East Asian countries.

On 29 October–2 November 2018, CIL participated as observer in the 36th session of UNCITRAL Working Group III held in Vienna, Austria. The meeting was attended by Research Associate Professor (CIL) N Jansen Calamita, Head of CIL’s Investment Law and Policy Programme, and Dr Charalampos Giannakopoulos, CIL Visiting Research Consultant.

Convening twice annually, UNCITRAL Working Group III brings together more than 200 government officials, UN officials and NGO representatives, with a mandate to (i) identify concerns raised by the current mechanisms for resolving investor-state disputes, (ii) discuss the desirability of reform in light of the concerns identified, and (iii) propose relevant solutions. During the Vienna meeting, discussions focussed on the second part of the above three-part mandate.

Research Assoc Prof (CIL) Calamita contributed to the discussions by delivering an address on the effects of third-party funding practices on investor-state dispute settlement and arguing for the desirability of reform in this respect. CIL’s participation in the UNCITRAL Working Group III is part of the Centre’s broader engagement with the topic of reform of investor-state dispute settlement, including through the possible establishment of appellate mechanisms and standing tribunals.

Research Fellow Dafina Atanasova attended the Trade Law Forum Incheon 2018, which gathered regional perspectives on ISDS reform from Asia-Pacific states in relation to the ongoing work of UNCITRAL on the topic. Her participation is part of the broader engagement of the Centre for International Law with the topic of appellate mechanisms and standing tribunals for investor-state disputes, and more specifically with the work of UNCITRAL Working Group III.

Research Associate Rachel Tan coached the NUS team that emerged runner-up at the Asian Law Students Association (ALSA) Investment Law Moot held in Yangon from 24 to 27 August 2018. At the keenly contested final, two NUS teams battled through four intense rounds simulating an investor-state dispute before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The runner-up team comprises second-year NUS law students: Ong Kye Jing, Wileen Saw, Timothy James Chong, and Isabella Tan.

Research Fellow Dr Dafina Atanasova and Research Associate and Practice Fellow Elsa Sardinha participated in SIEL Biennial Conference 2018 International Economic Law in Unsettling Times, American University Washington College of Law, Washington DC, 12–14 July 2018.

Dr Atanasova presented her paper ‘Applicable Law Provisions in Investment Treaties: An Empirical Take,’ as part of a panel dedicated to the general and theoretical aspects of international investment law.

Ms Sardinha presented her paper ‘Requiem for A Deal, or the End of American Influence in the Investment Chapters of Asia-Relevant FTAs?’, co-authored with NUS Assistant Professor Vincent-Joël Proulx, as part of a trade and investment panel dedicated to China and Asia. This paper had won the Best Paper Award at the Asian Society of International Law Japan Chapter’s Annual Global Conference in Tokyo on 1 July 2018.

Research Fellow Dr Dafina Atanasova participated in the workshop on political and legal theory of international courts and tribunals, organised by PluriCourts in Oslo on 18–19 June 2018.

Dr Atanasova presented her paper ‘A “Justice as Impartiality” View on the Authority of International Courts and Tribunals’.

Dr Ayelet Berman chaired a panel on “Investment Treaties and National Governance” at the 15th ASLI Conference 2018 in Seoul in May 2018. John Lumbantobing of the Faculty of Law, Universitas Katolik Parahyangan presented his paper “Very little spill: Internalization of investment treaties and their effects on domestic governance in Indonesia”. Younsik Kim of Sungshin University in Korea presented his paper on “Internationalisation of Investment Treaties in Korea”, and Sachinta Dias of Oxford University presented his paper on International Investment Agreements and Governance in Sri Lanka: An Analysis of Three Factual Scenarios”. This panel is part of an ongoing CIL research project on investment treaties and national governance. For more information about the project, please contact Dr Ayelet Berman.

Research Associate Ms Melissa Loja presented her research paper at the New Voices Panel at the 112th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law in Washington DC. Ms Loja’s paper was about international agreements between non-state actors. Her paper discussed international agreements that national petroleum corporations such as Petronas, PetroVietnam, PetroleumBrunei and China National Offshore Oil Corporations enter into to manage disputes over petroleum resources that are shared by states across maritime zones and boundaries.

Professor Laurence Helfer, Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of International Law, remarked that her paper makes a concrete contribution to international law, because it presents primary data that have not been made known before, and it enables a granular examination of actual practices in international law.

Research Assistant Mr Robert Real participated in the Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop 2018 on International Investment Law and Constitutional Law. Held on 9 and 10 March 2018, the workshop was organised by the Goethe-University Merton Centre for European Integration and International Economic Order in Frankfurt, Germany. Participants in the workshop explored the different facets of the increasing interaction between international investment law and constitutional law and critically analysed the opportunities and challenges this interaction creates. The panel topics included the (domestic) constitutional law limits of international investment law, the European Union’s constitutional limits of international investment law, the role of constitutional law in investor-state dispute settlement, and international investment law as constitutional law.

CIL Director Professor Lucy Reed served as faculty at the 2017 Summer Institute of the ASEAN Human Rights Resource Centre (HRRC) held in Bali on 29–31 January 2018 (the volcano risk having postponed the original summer date). The chairman of the conference was HE Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, who is the chairman of HRRC and a member of the CIL Board of Directors. The theme of the conference was ‘Trade, Investment, and the Rule of Law in ASEAN’. Professor Reed spoke on ‘The Rule of Law and Dispute Resolution in ASEAN’ and moderated a panel on ‘Rights Dimensions in Trade and Investment in the ASEAN Community’.

The HRRC is a non-profit academic centre headquartered at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, in partnership with 11 other academic institutions in 7 out of 10 ASEAN member states. Its mission is to support a rights-based approach to ASEAN integration through research, training and education, and its core thematic areas are rule of law, business and human rights, and the rights of vulnerable populations. The Summer Institute is the HRRC’s signature annual event, organised in collaboration with the WSD Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Stanford University and Udayana University.

CIL’s Investment Law and Policy Programme team organised the workshop on ‘Investment Treaties and National Governance’ on 16–17 November 2017, in the Asian context. The workshop had a selective call for papers, and participating researchers (mostly from the Asia-Pacific region) presented case studies assessing the impact of investment treaties on national governance in India, Indonesia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The workshop brought together researchers to discuss and unpack the following questions in the Asian context. What impact do investment treaties have on national governance? Although a considerate amount of research has examined the impact of investment treaties on FDI, very little is known about their effects on national governance. Are governments aware of their investment treaty obligations? Do they internalize their obligations, and if yes, how? Do investment treaties lead to improvements in the rule of law and good governance, or do they undermine national policy autonomy?

On 6 November 2017 the OECD’s Regulatory Policy Division’s ‘International Organizations Partnership for Effective International Rule-making’ convened a brainstorming session to discuss the partnership, bringing together the OECD, member states, international organisations and academics.

The partnership’s goal is to improve the quality, relevance and impact of international rule-making by international organisations. To advance these goals, the OECD has invited academics with in-depth knowledge and experience in the field of international rule-making, to collaborate with partnership. Dr Ayelet Berman has been invited to join this group of academics, called the ‘Academic Friends of the Partnership for Effective International Rulemaking’. She looks forward to contributing her knowledge and experience in fields such as informal international law-making, good regulatory practice, accountability and stakeholder engagement in international law-making. 

The Research Forum of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) took place at Washington University School of Law, St Louis on 26–28 October 2017. Following an anonymous and selective review process, academics, practitioners and government officials presented their papers in various sub-fields of international law. Speaking on the ‘International Governance’ panel, Dr Ayelet Berman presented her paper on ‘Accordion Governance’, which examines the establishment of international organisations, their displacement in favour of club governance, and the recent reversion towards bigger clubs. Dr Berman was also the moderator of and discussant on the panel ‘Fragmentation and Harmonization in International Law’. Further, as a panellist on ‘The Path to Practice in International Law’ panel, she spoke to students and new professionals interested in pursuing a career in international law.

CIL Director Lucy Reed, Head of International Dispute Resolution (Practice Skills) J Christopher Thomas QC, Head of Investment Law and Policy Jansen Calamita, Practice Fellow Emily Choo, and Global Associates Mark Feldman and Tara Davenport were part of the faculty of the 2017 Singapore International Arbitration Academy, which was organised by the CIL on 25 October 2017–2 November 2017. Ms Emily Choo was also team coach to one of the teams that took part in the Academy’s arbitration moot.

CIL Research Associates Millicent McCreath, Robert Real and Zoe Scanlon attended the Academy as participants and took part in the arbitration moot. Ms Zoe Scanlon was awarded a prize for excellence in advocacy.

Professor Reed, Mr Thomas, Research Associate Professor (CIL) Calamita and Ms Choo were speakers and moderators in the panel sessions in the CIL International Conference on Global Currents in International Investment Law on 2 November 2017.

CIL research associates (below) participated in the 14th Asian Law Institute Conference on “A Uniting Force? – ‘Asian Values’ and the Law” on 18–19 May 2017 in Manila, Philippines. The conference was organised by the Asian Law Institute of the National University of Singapore and College of Law at the University of the Philippines. The conference was attended by over 200 legal scholars and practitioners.

CIL Research Associate and Practice Fellow Elsa Sardinha and NUS Faculty of Law Assistant Professor Vincent-Joël Proulx presented a work-in-progress paper entitled ‘Requiem for a Deal, or the End of American Influence in the Investment Chapters of Asia-Relevant FTAs? Can Asian Trade and Investment “Values” Carry the RECP in the Wake of the TPP’s (Potential) Death?’

CIL Research Associate Millicent McCreath presented on ‘Burgeoning Practice of the Establishment of Marine Protected Areas in Southeast Asia to Target the Impacts of International Shipping’.

CIL Research Fellow Dr Zhen Sun presented on ‘ASEAN Framework to Enhance Maritime Security’.

CIL Research Associate Hadyu Ikrami presented on ‘Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines Cooperation in Combating Maritime Crimes: Lessons from the Malacca Straits Patrol and the Role of ASEAN’. 

On 3 March 2017, Research Associate Professor (CIL) N. Jansen Calamita, Head of CIL’s Investment Law and Policy Programme, was an invited speaker at a conference at Blackstone Chambers, London, titled ‘Current Issues in Rule of Law and International Trade and Development’. He spoke about investment treaties, foreign investment and the rule of law, addressing both whether investment treaties lead to higher levels of investment in the signatory states and whether investment treaties lead to improvements in the rule of law. His slides are available here.

On 27-28 February 2017, Research Associate Professor (CIL) N. Jansen Calamita, Head of CIL’s Investment Law and Policy Programme, gave lectures at University College London and the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge. He spoke on the compatibility of the European Union’s new investment tribunal system with existing instruments of the investment treaty regime, such as the ICSID Convention and the New York Convention. A summary of his remarks was reported in Global Arbitration Review. His paper is presently in prepublication review.

CIL Practice Fellow Emily Choo attended the inaugural KLRCA Summer Academy on International Investment Law and Dispute Settlement, which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 25-29 July 2016. The Summer Academy was organised by the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration in partnership with Clifford Chance. The 5-day programme comprised lectures, interactive training and practical exercises on topical issues in investment law. Around 50 government officials, academics, members of the judiciary and private practitioners from Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong and France attended the Summer Academy. [View image]

CIL Practice Fellow Emily Choo was invited to present her paper on “The Impact of Non-State Actors’ Intervention in Investor-State Arbitration” at the ILA British Branch Spring Conference on Non-State Actors and Changing Relations in International Law, which was held at the Lancaster University, United Kingdom on 8-9 April 2016. The conference was organised by the Lancaster University Law School and the International Law Association British Branch. Emily spoke about the impact of non-state actors on the development of investment law through their intervention in investor-state arbitration.

On 29-30 November 2016, Research Associate Professor (CIL) N. Jansen Calamita, Head of CIL’s Investment Law and Policy Programme, chaired panels and served as a discussant at the Asia FDI Conference II in Hong Kong, ‘China’s Three-Prong Investment Strategy: Bilateral, Regional and Global Tracks’.

On 15 November 2016, Research Associate Professor (CIL) N. Jansen Calamita, Head of CIL’s Investment Law and Policy Programme, gave a keynote presentation at the Asian Business Law Institute’s Asia Pacific Arbitration Conference 2016 titled ‘The Rise of Investment Treaty and Investor State Arbitration Practices in Asia’. Among other issues, he addressed the current state-of-play of investment treaty making and investor-state arbitration in Asia, including the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement, as well as the status of ongoing negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

On 1 November 2016, Research Associate Professor (CIL) N. Jansen Calamita, Head of CIL’s Investment Law and Policy Programme, was an invited speaker at the ‘International Symposium on China and Development of International Dispute Resolution System in the Context of “the Belt and Road” Construction’ at the Silk Road Institute for International and Comparative law at Xi’an Jiaotong University School of Law in Xi’an, China. His presentation, entitled ‘Building Legal Infrastructure for International Arbitration’, addressed the importance of a consistent, internationalised commercial arbitration framework across the range of states being considered for inclusion in China’s One Belt, One Road initiative.

On 12-13 October 2016, Research Associate Professor (CIL) N. Jansen Calamita, Head of CIL’s Investment Law and Policy Programme, was an invited speaker at the 5th Asia Pacific ADR Conference in Seoul, Korea, organised by, among others, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and the Korean Ministry of Justice. He addressed the changing landscape of investment treaties, paying particular attention to the investment treaty policy of the European Union.

CIL Research Fellow Ranyta Yusran and CIL Research Associates Shaun Kang and Elsa Sardinha participated in the 13th Annual Asian Law Institute Conference – ‘Asian Perspectives on Legal Globalisation’ on 19-20 May 2016 in Beijing, China. The Conference was jointly organised by Peking University and the Asian Law Institute. At the Conference, Ranyta Yusran spoke at a panel on ‘International Law and Human Rights’ and delivered a presentation entitled ‘No Longer Taboo and Yet Still Awkward: Human Rights in ASEAN’. To download her presentation, click here. Shaun Kang and Elsa Sardinha spoke at a panel on ‘International Law and Globalisation’. Shaun delivered a presentation on ‘The Exodus of Rohingya People and Malaysia’s International Obligations towards Refugees’ and Elsa Sardinha delivered a presentation on ‘The Right to Regulate: Towards a New Regulatory Paradigm under Recent Free Trade Investment Chapters? A Dissection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Canada-EU (CETA) and Singapore-EU (SEUFTA) Free Trade Agreements’. To download Shaun’s presentation, click here. To download Elsa’s presentation, click here.

CIL Research Fellow Junianto James Losari taught an International Investment Law course in the Masters Programme on Trade, Investment, and Competition at the Universitas Pelita Harapan, Indonesia, which was held on 23-26 February 2016 in Jakarta, Indonesia. In his lecture, James provided an overview of international investment law with some specific discussions on Indonesia’s recent investment policies. This was the fourth time that CIL was invited to teach this course. CIL’s past participation included the course being co-taught by James and Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow. [View photo]

On Monday, 22 February 2016, CIL Research Fellow Junianto James Losari was the guest lecturer at a workshop to advise Indonesian government officials from the Ministry of Trade, the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board, the Central Bank of Indonesia, and various other institutions on cross-cutting issues between Trade in Services and Investment. The workshop was organised by the Ministry of Trade’s Centre for Advocacy and the EU-Indonesia Trade Cooperation Facility at the Ministry of Trade in Jakarta, Indonesia. In his lecture, James highlighted the need for Indonesian government officials to clarify their policy objectives both in trade and investment before the process of negotiating or drafting free trade agreements (FTAs). Furthermore, he noted the potential overlap of commitments made under trade in services chapter and investment chapters in FTAs that requires different institutions to cooperate and coordinate closely to prevent inconsistency. For further details about the workshop, click here: http://www.euind-tcf.com/taking-a-closer-look-at-the-investment-provisions-in-regional-trade-agreements/
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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 Senior Principal Research Fellow J. Christopher Thomas, QC delivered the keynote address on ‘The New Era of Investment Treaty-Making’ to open the 4th Asia Pacific ADR Conference in Seoul, Korea on 3 November 2015. The Conference was jointly sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Justice, UNCITRAL, the KCAB, and the ICC.

CIL Research Fellow Junianto James Losari attended the Southeast Asia Law Scholars Colloquium held by Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta, Indonesia on 22 October 2015. James presented a paper that he co-wrote with A/P Michael Ewing-Chow titled “Multiple Authorisation: The Complexity of Desentralisasi in Indonesia and the Potential Contribution of IIAs in Resolving Confusion”. James discussed the problems posed by the desentralisasi system on foreign investors in Indonesia. Subsequently, he suggested ways to alleviate the problems by utilising Indonesia’s existing IIAs to discipline the regional governments. To view his presentation, click here.

CIL Research Associate Mark Huber attended the Centre for International Dispute Settlement’s International Conference on “International Dispute Settlement on the Crossroads of Public and Private International Law”, in Geneva, Switzerland on 25 September 2015. The conference discussed the public and private paradigms in investment treaty arbitration, the intersection between the trade and investment regimes, and conflicts, coordination and international responsibility in international arbitration and domestic litigation.

CIL Research Associate Mark Huber attended the British Institute of International and Comparative Law Investment Treaty Forum’s Twenty-fifth ITF Public Conference, “The ICSID Convention at 50”, in London, England on 18 September 2015. This meeting of the Investment Treaty Forum, organised in partnership with the ICSID Secretariat, discussed the history of the ICSID Convention, the legal issues raised in its interpretation and application, and its continuing role in the investment treaty regime.

CIL Practice Fellow Emily Choo was invited to present her paper, ‘The Impact of Amicus Curiae Submissions in Investment Treaty Arbitration’ at the 2015 Taipei International Conference on Arbitration and Mediation from 6-7 September 2015. The conference was attended by about 60 practitioners and academics from more than eight countries across Asia and Europe. Emily spoke about the investment arbitration tribunals’ treatment of amicus curiae participation in investment arbitration proceedings. Her paper is the latest comprehensive study of this particular area and her study of the cases shows that there are three main approaches that such tribunals have taken. She concluded her presentation by examining the precedential value of these earlier investment arbitration cases for the ongoing Philip Morris v Uruguay proceedings. To download her presentation, please click here.

CIL Practice Fellow Ms Harpreet Kaur Dhillon was invited to act as one of four instructors in a workshop in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, from 6 to 8 July 2015 on ‘Public Policy and Investor State Dispute Settlement’, jointly organised by Myanmar’s Attorney-General’s Office and the International Commission of Jurists (Myanmar). It was attended by more than 60 government officials from across Myanmar, and presided over by Myanmar’s Attorney-General and Director-General. She taught in two 90-minute sessions on defences in investment treaty law, paying close attention to Myanmar’s existing investment treaties. She also developed, led and participated in exercises based on a simulation of an investor-state dispute that arises between Myanmar and investors of an ASEAN neighbour. To download Harpreet Kaur Dhillon’s PowerPoint Presentation, click here.

CIL Practice Fellow Emily Choo attended the Pearl River Delta Academy of International Trade and Investment Law, which was held in Macau and Shenzhen from 6 July 2015 to 17 July 2015. The Academy was organised by the Institute of European Studies in Macau and the Peking University School of Transnational Law and covered WTO law, international investment law, international trade and other areas of international law. The two-week Academy brought together postgraduate students from various disciplines to be trained by a faculty comprising leading academics from various fields.

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.

Assoc Prof Michael Ewing-Chow was invited by the International Institute for Trade and Development (Thailand) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand to speak at a seminar on International Investment Agreements (IIAs) towards Global Sustainability. The two-day seminar was held on 25-26 June 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand. In addition to explaining the general framework of IIAs and its recent development, Michael also discussed shareholder recovery in investment claims and advised on options for IIA and BITs clauses.

On 25-27 May 2015, the Temasek Foundation held its Series on Trade & Negotiations: RSIS-WTO Parliamentarian Workshop 2015 in Singapore. This event brought together parliamentarian representatives from the region to learn and discuss further about the recent development in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Director General of the WTO, Mr Roberto Azevedo, delivered his keynote address about the challenges for the WTO in the future. A/P Michael Ewing-Chow was invited to share Singapore’s experience in trade facilitation. In his talk, Michael talked about the situation in the region and how trade facilitation can help development. Using the history of Singapore and trade facilitation, he suggested some principles for trade facilitation, in particular the importance of dealing with corruption, garnering buy-in from all stakeholders, and upholding the rule of law.

Universitas Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) invited A/P Michael Ewing-Chow to speak at the ASEAN Economic Community Forum, which was held on 21-22 May 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In the panel on ‘Full Integration into the Global Community: RCEP’, Michael delivered his presentation, ‘RCEP = ASEAN Plus Six Is the Whole Greater than the Sum of the Parts?’. He discussed the current context of the trade and investment landscape in RCEP negotiating countries. He also talked about the potential gains if RCEP could be concluded and the challenges that the negotiating parties will face during the negotiation based on the gap between some of the ASEAN and its Dialogue Partners as evidenced by the existing ASEAN+1 FTAs.

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 Practice Fellow Ms Harpreet Kaur Dhillon was invited to speak at the Regional Arbitral Institutes Forum (RAIF) 2015 on 9 May 2015 at the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was part of a 3-member panel on investor-state arbitration, together with Professor Chester Brown of University of Sydney and Mr. Hussein Haeri of Withers LLP (London). Harpreet presented on the “Clash of Bilateralism and Regionalism in International Investment Agreements of ASEAN Member States: What Have We Overlooked?”, examining the overlap in investment treaty protection in existing agreements and why an investor may approach strategically the question of which amongst multiple investment agreements between the same State parties it may proceed in investor-state arbitration. The keynote address was delivered by Singapore’s Attorney-General, Mr. V K Rajah SC, and the conference was hosted by the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators. More than 100 participants attended the RAIF. To download her presentation in PDF format, click here.

The British Institute of International and Comparative Law invited A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, CIL Head of Trade/Investment Law and Policy, to be one of the panellists in the 24th Investment Treaty Forum Public Conference, which was held on 8 May 2015 in London, United Kingdom. The theme of this year’s forum was “The European Union’s Investment Treaties in Global Context”. On the panel, “Comparing the Texts-Substantive Protections”, Michael discussed the most-favoured nation (MFN) clause, which has been a subject of controversy in international investment law. He noted that the Investment Chapter of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement does not have an MFN clause, whereas the Investment Chapter of the Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement (CETA) has one that carves out dispute settlement and limits MFN application only to treatment. He then proposed that the necessity of an MFN clause should be re-evaluated in light of States’ attempts to refine their new International Investment Agreements (IIAs), and that National Treatment (NT) and Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) clauses may be sufficient to address investors’ concerns regarding abuse.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) invited A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, CIL Head of Trade/Investment Law and Policy, as one of a select group of international investment law experts to a Peer Review Meeting for the forthcoming UNCTAD World Investment Report (WIR) 2015. The Meeting was held on 29-30 April 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland. During the Meeting, the experts discussed the issue of International Investment Agreement (IIA) reform and how a holistic approach to IIA should be conceptualised. UNCTAD will include the result of the discussions in the forthcoming WIR 2015.

CIL Practice Fellow Ms Harpreet Kaur Dhillon was invited to speak at the 4th Conference for the Postgraduate and Early Professionals/Academics Network of the Society of International Economic Law on 16 and 17 April 2015 at the University of Milan in Milan, Italy. Harpreet delivered a paper on its Investment Dispute Settlement panel titled “The Makings of the Modern Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Provision: the Case-Study of Singapore”, examining and critiquing the evolution of the ISDS provision in Singapore’s international investment agreements. More than 80 participants from around the world attended the Conference. To download her presentation, click here.

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 Head of Trade/Investment Law and Policy Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL Research Fellow Junianto James Losari were invited to the 2015 UNCTAD Expert Meeting on the Transformation of the IIA Regime, held from 25-27 February 2015. This Expert Meeting is the first-of-its-kind conference that brings together multi-stakeholders – treaty negotiators, academics, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and relevant international organizations, e.g. the Organization for Economic Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) – to discuss and contribute to the transformation of the IIA regime which is currently under scrutiny by various States around the world. Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow was appointed as one of the Rapporteurs for the event. Various suggestions to improve the current IIA regime were put forward during the discussions, and the suggestions will be included in the 2015 World Investment Report.

CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy and Singapore’s WTO Chair, Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL Research Fellow, Junianto James Losari were invited for the third time to teach Investment Law at the Masters in Trade, Investment and Competition Law & Policy Program of Universitas Pelita Harapan in Jakarta, Indonesia. The intensive course was held on 9-13 February 2015.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr Hao Duy Phan, CIL Research Fellows Leonardo Bernard and Junianto James Losari and CIL Research Associate Harpreet Kaur Dhillon participated in the World Congress on International Law, held in New Delhi, India, from 9 to 11 January 2015. Organised by the Indian Society of International Law, the programme covered a wide range of areas in international law and practice. CIL researchers were invited to speak on panels addressing the law of the sea and international investment, trade and dispute resolution. To download their presentations, click here.

Senior Principal Research Fellow Christopher Thomas QC gave a speech at the 2014 Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Congress on “Investment treaty arbitration: Just another form of commercial arbitration?” as part of the Closing Plenary Session on “Investment Treaty Arbitration in Asia: The meeting of international commercial arbitration and public international law”.

Senior Principal Research Fellow Christopher Thomas QC taught a two-day intensive training course for Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) officials on dispute settlement under international investment agreements. This was the second part to a three-day intensive course taught in November 2013.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) invited CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy Professor Michael Ewing-Chow to the World Investment Forum 2014 to chair the session titled ‘Development and Investment Strategies’, together with Stephen Gelb and Xiaolan Fu on 15 October 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland. During the discussion, the participants discussed Global Value Chains (GVCs), Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and institutions and governance as potential focus areas for research on investment and development.

CIL Research Associate Junianto James Losari attended an academic conference held jointly by Universitas Pelita Harapan (Indonesia) and Foreign Trade University (Vietnam) in Jakarta on 14-15 October 2014 in cooperation with the World Trade Institute (Switzerland). James presented his paper on ‘Comprehensive or BIT by BIT: ACIA and Indonesia’s BITs’. He criticised the existence of intra-ASEAN BITs (bilateral investment treaties) alongside the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), which has resulted in dual regimes of investment protection in the region, allowing investors to pick and choose the most favourable standards applicable to them. James offered recommendations for reconciliation of the regimes and preservation of Member States’ regulatory space. The conference was coupled with the launch of UPH’s WTO Chair Programme by the Deputy Director General of the WTO, Mr Yi Xiaozhun and the Ministry of Trade of Indonesia, Mr Muhammad Lutfi. James represented Singapore’s WTO Chair, Prof Michael Ewing-Chow to convey his support and interest for future collaboration with UPH. [Photo from event]

CIL Research Associate Junianto James Losari attended a meeting held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia to discuss Indonesia’s review of the investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms included in its existing bilateral investment treaties and make recommendations for future investment agreements. The meeting, held on 14-16 August 2014 in Jakarta, was attended by government officials from various ministries and institutions in Indonesia.

CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy Professor Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL Research Associate Junianto James Losari spoke at the 2014 Society of International Economic Law Conference (SIEL) in Bern, Switzerland, on 10-12 July 2014. This biennial conference brings together the top academic experts and practitioners in the field to present their work and research on topics of trade, investment, and financial law. Professor Michael Ewing-Chow was an invited speaker at the session entitled ‘”Burning Issue” in IEL: Russia, Ukraine and the Crimea – IEL Dimensions’. Mr Losari presented a paper that he co-wrote with Professor Michael Ewing-Chow on ‘A Clash of Treaties – The Legality of Countermeasures in International Trade Law and International Investment Law’. To download the presentation, please click here.

CIL Head of International Trade and Law Professor Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL Research Associate Junianto James Losari met with ERIA Researchers, Mr. Yoshifumi Fukunaga, Ms. Lili Yan Ing, and Mr. Chandra Tri Putra to discuss ERIA’s baseline study of various investment agreements among the countries involved in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. The discussion focused on creating baseline study indicators to assess commitments on liberalisation and protection, the creation of which will provide useful information for negotiators of the RCEP.

Following the publication of their article in the Jakarta Post entitled “Indonesia should not withdraw from ICSID”, CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof Michael Ewing-Chow, and CIL Research Associate, Junianto James Losari were invited by the University of Indonesia to the National Seminar on Settlement of Investment Disputes: Indonesia, ASEAN, International, on 5 June 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia to participate in the discussion regarding Indonesia’s policy on discontinuing or terminating its Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) regime. More than 300 participants attended the seminar, including government officials from various institutions in Indonesia, academics, and members of the media and business community. Other speakers at the seminar included: Mr Mahendra Siregar, Chairman of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Mr Abdulkadir Jailani, Director for of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Iswahjudi Karim (Karimsyah), and Prof Hikmahanto Juwana. For a summary of the discussion, please click here.

CIL’s Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL’s RA Junianto James Losari attended the 3rd Post Graduate and Early Professionals Network of the Society for International Economic Law (SIEL/PEPA) in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow delivered an opening speech with the topic of “Global economic governance: what levels for appropriate coordination and world social and economic development?” James delivered his presentation titled: “Investor Rights in International Investment Agreements: A Theory of Dependent Rights?” For more information and to download the presentation, click here.

CIL’s Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow along with CIL’s RA Junianto James Losari were invited to attend the first Forum on International Trade and Investment (FORTRIN) meeting. Former WTO Deputy Director General Alejandro Jara, now with King & Spalding hosted the meeting. Michael and James attended by videoconference from the King & Spalding office in New York, together with Prof. Karl Sauvant of the Vale Centre of Columbia University. The meeting was attended trade and investment experts from Geneva, London, Paris, Washington DC, and New York all linked by videoconference. FORTRIN aims to provide a platform to promote the application and development of trade and investment rules with a view to bolstering the global legal framework for international economic law activity. During the first meeting, the discussion revolved around how to frame the issues of current investment rules. This is an important foundation if a multilateral approach on investment rules were to be proposed. In his intervention, Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow suggested a way to contextualize the current issues by looking through the global value chains lens, as governments will be more interested in exploring further the idea of multilateral investment agreement if they can be more integrated to the value chains. The discussion also touched upon several challenges to this effort, among others: the growing reluctance of governments in being subjected to Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), the need for a better fact-finding procedure in international arbitration, the need to address burning issues such as abusive treaty shopping, and the need to educate the stakeholders, including the civil society. Preparations are required to deal with these matters before one can move towards creating a multilateral investment framework.

CIL’s Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL’s RA Junianto James Losari were invited by the DC Bar’s International Dispute Resolution Committee to attend a lunchtime panel discussion on “Changes in the System of Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Viewpoints from the Americas” that was held on 10 April 2014 at the office of Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington DC. The panelists (Anna Joubin-Bret, Jonathan S. Kallmer, and Omar Garcia-Bolivar) presented their findings of the current state of development in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in both North America and South America. Michael and James were invited to share their views on the developments in Asia and in particular ASEAN and Asia. During the discussion that was moderated by Jean Kalicki, various innovations were mentioned on how countries sought to improve the current legal frameworks. These innovations are to be implemented both at domestic and international levels and could be considered as fresh ideas for currently ongoing IIAs negotiations, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Michael said that the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) has introduced several innovations, making it a more balanced agreement both in terms of investor protection and preserving the governments’ policy space. Separately, James queried whether there was any plans to consolidate agreements in the Americas, given that Asia has plans to do so under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiation.

The International Economic Law and Policy (IELPO) LL.M Programme of the Universidad de Barcelona invited CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy Professor Michael Ewing-Chow for the second consecutive year to teach ‘Regionalism in Asia’ as part of their programme. The course was held on 10-11 March 2014 and focused on the unique features of Asian Regionalism, with an emphasis on the trade and investment aspects of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

CIL Research Associate, Junianto James Losari spoke in the Plenary Discussion on Cooperative Ventures toward ASEAN Integration. The Plenary discussion was a part of the full day Business Law Convention held by De La Salle University College of Law in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines on Doing Business in Free Trade Areas: Cooperative Ventures toward ASEAN Integration. The event, attended by almost 1,000 students, academia and business community, was meant to raise awareness about the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. For more information, click here.