Researchers' Activities

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.