Researchers' Activities

CIL Deputy Director Dr Navin Rajagobal participated in the United Nations Regional Course on International Law held in Thailand in November 2012. For more information and photos, click here.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited to attend Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law (HiiL) Innovating Justice Forum 2012 from 1-2 November 2012. The forum focused on the issue of the rise of international rule making as a phenomenon and the problem of building trust in the rulemaking by transnational public and private networks. For more information on the Forum, visit the Forum website by clicking here.

CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh delivered a speech on “Japan’s Prospects and Challenges: A View from Southeast Asia” at the International House of Japan, on the occassion of its 60th anniversary celebrations in Tokyo, Japan. To download the speech in PDF format, click here.

Dr Navin Rajagobal, CIL Deputy Director, together with Prof M. Sornarajah, NUS Law School, and Mr Ken Aboud, Allen & Overy, judged the finals of the Singapore International Affairs Debate 2012 on 21 July 2011 between ACJC and HCJC at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus. The motion was “This House believes that Singapore’s foreign policy should better take into account the sensitivities and interests of our neighbours.” CIL’s patron, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law Mr. K. Shanmugam, was the Guest of Honour.

CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh delivered a lecture on “Law and Justice: An Asian Perspective” (view in PDF) at the 9th Asian Law Institute Conference at the NUS Law School, Singapore.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head, Trade/Investment Law & Policy, CIL, was invited to present his research into food security at the final meeting of the NYU-NYLS International Economic Law Working Group that took place in New York on 11 April 2012. Prof Ewing-Chow gave a presentation on “Food Security: From Self Sufficiency to Production Diversification and Regional Cooperation – A Case Study in Rice Security.” For more information on the Working Group, please click here. For a copy of the minutes of the meeting, please click here.

CIL Deputy Director Dr Navin Rajagobal participated in the 50th anniversary celebrations of the NUS Department of Political Science on 30 March 2012 at the Orchid Country Club. H.E. Ambassador Chan Heng Chee was the Guest-of-Honour.

CIL Research Fellow, Dr Tan Hsien-Li, along with CIL Research Associates Leonardo Bernard and Ranyta Yusran, participated in the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law in Washington DC, USA on 28-31 March 2012. During the meeting, Dr Tan did a book review for The Practice of International and National Courts and the (De-)Fragmentation of International Law (Edited by Ole Kristian Fauchald and Andr? Nollkaemper). She also covered the Plenary Session rounding up Day 1 ? Confronting Complexity in the Hague: The View from the Courts and Tribunals ? featuring the heads of the international tribunals (Brooks Daly, Permanent Court of Arbitration; Theodor Meron, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; Sang-Hyun Song, International Criminal Court; Peter Tomka, International Court of Justice). To access Dr Tan’s coverage of the Plenary Session, please click here.

CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh outlines Asia’s challenges in the 21st century at the ADB Eminent Person’s Lecture. To download his speech in PDF, click here.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr Tan Hsien-Li presented her paper, co-written with CIL Research Associate Ranyta Yusran, on “The Impact of the Rome Statute in Southeast Asia and the Way Forward” at the Conference on “Justice for All? The International Criminal Court – A Conference: A Ten Year Review” at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Prof Walter Woon and Deputy Director Dr Navin Raj represented CIL at the inauguration of Malaysia’s International Centre for Law and Legal Studies (I-CeLLS) on 8 July 2011 in Putrajaya, which was graced by the Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak. I-CeLLS is expected to provide a platform for experts from various backgrounds and disciplines, including private legal practitioners, academics, government lawyers and policy makers, to interact and address different aspects of key national, regional and international issues.

CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh’s keynote speech at Raffles Institution Tiltshift Summit held on 13 June 2011. For the PDF version of his speech, click here.

CIL Deputy Chairman Prof Walter Woon’s keynote speech at CIL-KSIL-SILS conference held on 20 April 2011. For the PDF version of his speech, click here.

CIL Director Robert Beckman participated in the First Meeting of the CSCAP Study Group on Cyber Security. The meeting was held at the Palm Garden Hotel IOI Resort City, Putrajaya, Malaysia and was attended by representatives from 13 CSCAP countries. At the meeting Prof Beckman made a presentation entitled “Legal Policy and Framework: Jurisdictional Challenges in Cyber Security.”

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, advised the members of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) on the legal implications and policy options for the food security agreement and its consistency with their existing trade obligations. Senior officials from the ASEAN+3 countries attended the meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. Assoc Prof Ewing-Chow was appointed as the Legal Expert to the APTERR project by the Asian Development Bank which has been tasked to assist APTERR with legal and economic issues. CIL Research Associate Ms Liu Gehuan worked with Assoc Prof Ewing-Chow on the legal opinion. In his presentation, Assoc Prof Ewing-Chow addressed legal issues relating to the origin of the rice, the stockpiling of the rice, and the distribution of the rice and the options to ensure APTERR members’ compliance with their obligations under the World Trade Organization, ASEAN FTA and other regional agreements. At the meeting, APTERR members discussed proposed guidelines for the implementation of the agreement to facilitate regional food security in rice.

CIL Director Robert Beckman met with a delegation from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV). The delegation was headed by Mr Dang Dinh Quy, the Vice President (Research) of the DAV and the General Director of its Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies.

CIL Director Robert Beckman was a discussant at a Regional Workshop on Dealing with Energy Vulnerabilities: Case Studies of Cooperation and Collaboration in East Asia. The Workshop was organized by the RSIS Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies and held from 9-10 December 2010 at the Park Royal Hotel in Singapore.

CIL Director Robert Beckman participated in a Workshop on the Global Commons which was organized by the NATO Allied Command Transformation at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore.

CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh delivered the Third Linnaeus Lecture on the topic of “Biodiversity and Cities” (download PDF version) in Nagoya, Japan.

CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh delivered his remarks on “The Future of Global Governance” (download PDF version) at the RSIS Singapore Global Dialogue, Shangri-La Hotel.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, and Research Associate Ms Liu Gehuan attended, as invited legal experts, the Working Meeting on the APTERR Agreement in Bangkok, Thailand.

CIL Director Robert Beckman conducted an “Introduction to International Law” course for the MFA Diplomatic Academy on 24-25 June 2010 (download photo). Participants included policy and legal officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade & Industry, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports, Singapore Police Force, Internal Security Department and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority. For more information on executive training programmes, email cil.info@nus.edu.sg.

CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh, Prof Walter Woon, Deputy Director Dr Navin Raj and Research Associate Ms Sari Aziz participated at the Indonesian Society of International Law (ISIL) 8th anniversary commemorative seminar “International Law as a Political Instrument?” in Jakarta, Indonesia (download conference eFlyer).

CIL’s Patron Senior Minister S. Jayakumar emphasised the importance of international law for small countries at the S Rajaratnam Lecture 2010 (download PDF version).

Deputy Director Dr Navin Raj and Research Associate Ms Liu Gehuan participated at the EU Centre’s Conference on “Networked Regionalism versus Institutional Regionalism” in Singapore.

CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh delivers a keynote address (download PDF version) at the EUC Conference on Networked Regionalism versus Institutional Regionalism, Singapore.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, gave a Max Planck Lecture on ASEAN and Legalization at the Max Planck Institute of Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg.

CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh delivered a lecture on “The Principles of Good Governance” (download PDF version) at the Workshop on Good Governance at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangkok, Thailand.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, – Emile Noel Fellow at the Jean Monnet Centre, NYU, US.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, attended the Closing Dinner of the WTO Regional Trade Policy Course, Singapore.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, attended the Inaugural Asian International Economic Law Network, Tokyo, Japan.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, delivered a paper “Derivative Action in Singapore: Calibrating the Regulation of Rights and Responsibilities of Shareholders” at the NUS-USyd Symposium: Rights, Responsibilities and Regulation, University of Sydney, Australia.

Danielle Yeow participated in an invitation only workshop on Crypto and Net Zero 2022 in the World Economic Forum led workshop series on Crypto Impact and Sustainability Accelerator (CISA) Net Zero which convenes experts to discuss methods to effect a sustainable transformation of carbon markets and explore how crypto-economic mechanisms and new models for transparency can help institutions both achieve and enhance net-zero commitments. For more information on CISA, pls see https://www.weforum.org/communities/crypto-impact-and-sustainability-accelerator-cisa