Researchers' Activities

CIL Research Fellow Ranyta Yusran attended the 10th Anniversary Conference of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) in Vienna, Austria, on 4-6 September 2014. This year’s theme was ‘International Law and…’, which highlighted the interrelatedness of international law and other fields of study such as literature, political science, anthropology, feminism, etc. The Conference was attended by more than four hundred legal academics and practitioners from Europe, Central America, the United States, Canada, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Ms Yusran also attended the first ESIL interest group meeting on international courts and tribunals, which will be the theme of the next ESIL Conference.

CIL Director Robert Beckman gave a lecture in the Foreign Service Advance Programme organised by the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The lecture was on “Current Issues in International Law and Implications for Singapore”.

Senior Principal Research Fellow Christopher Thomas QC chaired a session at the Rule of Law Symposium 2014 on “The Importance of The Rule of Law in Promoting Development”. He is a co-editor of the Symposium proceedings under the general editorship of Sir Jeffrey Jowell. This was the second year that the Singapore Academy of Law organised this Symposium in collaboration with the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law.

CIL Director Robert Beckman and CIL Global Associate Tara Davenport attended the Singapore-US Strategic Dialogue 2014, which was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington DC.

CIL Director Robert Beckman attended the 76th Biennial Conference of the International Law Association (ILa) and 108th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) in Washington DC. The ASIL Annual Meeting and the ILA Biennial Conference were organised jointly and held together. The other CIL staff who attend the meetings were Michael Ewing-Chow, James Losari, Leonardo Bernard and Hao Duy Phan.

CIL Director Robert Beckman served as the coordinator and main lecturer in an International Law Course CIL conducted for government officials from more than 20 countries. The course was conducted under the auspices of the Singapore Cooperation Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prof Beckman made presentations and led discussions in 14 sessions of 90 minutes each over the 5-day course. Assoc Prof Michael Ewing-Chow and Christopher Thomas also made presentations. CIL Research Fellow Ranyta Yusran played a major role in organising the course and the course materials. CIL Research Fellows Hao Duy Phan and Leonardo Bernard also led discussions at the course.

On 8-9 February 2014, CIL Research Associate Junianto James Losari judged three preliminary rounds and the final round of the 2014 Indonesian National Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, held at Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH), Indonesia. Universitas Indonesia and UPH respectively came as the Champion and the Runner Up of the competition in which 17 universities participated. In April, the two teams along with Universitas Udayana (Exhibition Team) will compete in Washington DC, USA.

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.]

CIL Staff organised and participated in the first CIL Conference on Food Security and Trade. The conference was at Fort Canning Hotel, Singapore. The Conference brought together leading experts on international trade in agriculture to provide an analysis of the ways in which the current international trade system can affect food security. CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof Michael Ewing-Chow presented a paper on the relationship between self-sufficiency and food security ‘From Self-Sufficiency to Collective Food Security’ and CIL Senior Research Fellow, Melania Vilarasau Slade presented a paper on ‘The Role of International Law in Tackling the Resource Challenge’. Prof Michael Ewing-Chow and Melanie Vilarasau Slade led the organisation of the Conference. For more information about the Conference, click here.