Researchers' Activities

CIL Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons attended the 8th ABLOS Conference 2015 in Monaco – UNCLOS: Advances in Managing the Blue World. Youna presented a paper on ‘States International Rights and Obligations in the Race for Giant Clams in the South China Sea’, which was co-authored by Ms Neo Mei Lin, Research Fellow, NUS Tropical Marine Science Institute, CIL Research Fellow Denise Cheong and CIL Research Assistant Hiu Fung Wong. To download the presentation, please click here.

CIL Research Fellow Denise Cheong participated in the Nuclear Energy Experts Group (NEEG) organised by the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) and held in Singapore on 15-16 October 2015.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons attended the 37th Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties to the 1972 London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter and the 10th Meeting of Contracting Parties to the 1996 London Protocol to the London Convention at the IMO, in London, from 11-15 October 2015.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons and CIL Research Fellow Denise Cheong participated in the ‘Asia-Pacific Deep Sea Mining Summit – Forming New Partnerships 2015’ at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on 29-30 September 2015.

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 Non-Resident Fellow Captain J Ashley Roach and CIL Research Fellow Zhen Sun participated in the Arctic Deeply Roundtable Discussion on ‘Asia and the Arctic: Where Things Stand’ on 16 September 2015 in Singapore. The Roundtable was jointly organised by Arctic Deeply and the World Policy Institute, in collaboration with Guggenheim Partners and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS. At the Roundtable Discussion, Captain Roach made a presentation on ‘Asia and the Arctic: The Legal Issues’. To download his presentation, please click here.

CIL Director Robert Beckman participated in a conference on the South China Sea in Jakarta, Indonesia from 14-16 September 2015. The Conference was co-organised by the Centre of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Indonesia and the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS) in Hainan, China. This was the First Conference in a project led by Indonesia and China to enhance cooperation and help manage the security situation in the South China Sea. Prof Beckman served as the co-chair of a Working Group on UNCLOS and the South China Sea.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr Hao Duy Phan and CIL Research Fellow Ranyta Yusran attended the 11th Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law in Oslo, Norway from 10-12 September 2015. The Conference was hosted by the PluriCourts Centre for the Study of the Legitimate Roles of the Judiciary in the Global Order, University of Oslo.

Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons and Research Fellow Denise Cheong participated in the 2015 Colloquium of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law held at the Atma Jaya Catholic University in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 7-11 September 2015. Youna made a presentation titled: “Towards a comprehensive framework for the designation of sensitive marine environments”. To download her presentation, click here.

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 Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons was invited to present the lessons learned and recommendations that arose from the NUS Workshop on the Prospects for Large-Scale Artificial Reefs in Southeast Asia, at the Indonesia Decommissioning Conference on 13-14 August 2015 in Bandung, Indonesia. To download her presentation, click here.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr Hao Duy Phan and CIL Research Fellow Dr Sun Zhen were invited to speak at the China-ASEAN Forum on Law, Policy and Management of the Sea on 4 August 2015 in Guiyang, Guizhou, China. Hao Duy Phan delivered a presentation on ‘ASEAN Cooperation on Maritime Security’ (download in PDF). Sun Zhen made a presentation on ‘Regional Sea Cooperation in East Asia’ (download in PDF). The Forum was co-organised by the Ocean University of China and the Guiyang College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. More than 50 participants from China, ASEAN Member States and other states attended the Forum.

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.

CIL was a sponsoring organisation at the 39th Annual Conference of the Center for Oceans Law and Policy (COLP) of the University of Virginia, which was held in Shanghai, China from 24-26 June 2015. The title of the Conference was ‘International Marine Economy: Law and Policy’. CIL Director Robert Beckman chaired a panel on grey areas in international boundary delimitation. CIL sponsored the participation of four speakers: CIL International Advisory Panel Member Arif Havas Oegroseno, Dr Clive Schofield, CIL Non-Resident Fellow Captain Ashley Roach and CIL Research Fellow Leonardo Bernard. CIL Research Fellow Zhen Sun also attended the conference. To download Capt. Roach’s presentation, click here. To download Dr Schofield’s presentation, click here.

CIL Director Professor Robert Beckman, CIL Non-Resident Fellow Captain Ashley Roach, and Research Fellows Leo Bernard and Dr Zhen Sun participated in the 2015 International Symposium on Global Commons and the Law of the Sea in Hangzhou, China on 22-23 June 2015. The Symposium was co-organised by the Centre for Ocean Law and Governance, Guanghua Law School and Collaborative Innovation Centre for the Belt and Road Initiative, Zhejiang University. Professor Beckman delivered a presentation on ‘The Development of the Polar Code and Challenges to Its Implementation’, while Captain Roach presented on ‘Evolution of Soviet Maritime Navigation Policy and China’s Far Seas Operations’. Research Fellows Leo Bernard and Dr Zhen Sun also served as discussants for two panels. To download Professor Beckman’s and Dr Sun’s presentation, click here. To download Capt. Roach’s presentation, click here.

On 12 June 2015, the Symposium for the Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Rhodes Academy on Oceans Law and Policy was held at the United Nations in New York. Hosted by the Permanent Mission of Iceland to the UN, the Symposium featured Judge Tomas Heidar and several other Rhodes Alumni, who presented on current law of the sea issues. Most of the Symposium’s 70 participants had attended the Meeting of States Parties to the Law of the Sea Convention that took place the previous week. CIL, one of the sponsoring organisations of the Rhodes Academy, was represented at the Symposium by CIL Research Fellow (Non-Resident) Tara Davenport at which she gave a presentation on ‘Submarine Cables in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction’. To view her presentation, click here.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines as a presenter in a side event they organised on UNCLOS and the protection of the marine environment during the Meeting of the States Parties to the Law of the Sea Convention, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, on 10 June 2015. Her presentation was titled ‘Environmental Impacts from Large Scale Constructions in the South China Sea: Legal Issues’. To see her presentation, please click here.

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

CIL Research Fellow Dr Zhen Sun participated in the Conference on ‘The European Union and the Arctic’ on 29-30 May 2015, at the University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom. The Conference was jointly organised by the University of Dundee and the University of Tromso. At the Conference, Dr. Sun made a presentation on ‘The Interests and Potential Roles of Observers in the Arctic Council – In the Context of Marine Environmental Protection’. Her presentation attracted discussion on the general involvement of the Asian States in the Arctic issues. To download her presentation, click here.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons participated at the 2015 American Association of Petroleum Geologists Workshop on Tectonic Evolution and Sedimentation of the South China Sea Region, on 26-27 May 2015, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

CIL Director Robert Beckman and CIL Research Fellow Leonardo Bernard participated at the 2015 ILA – ASIL Asia-Pacific Research Forum on 25-26 May 2015 in Taipei, Taiwan. The Research Forum was organised by the Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law – Chinese (Taiwan) Branch of the International Law Association, in cooperation with the American Society of International Law and Research Center for International Legal Studies, National Chengchi University. Prof Beckman was part of the panel on Law of the Sea: South China Sea, where he presented on the Philippines v China Case and Maritime Disputes in the South China Sea. To download Prof Beckman’s paper, click here. To download his presentation in PDF format, click here.

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.

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

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.

CIL Director Robert Beckman presented lectures on 8 and 11 May 2015 on the law of the sea to the participants in the RSIS Command Staff College Course in Maritime Security Studies at S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

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 Director Robert Beckman and CIL Visiting Research Fellow Captain J Ashley Roach attended the annual Plenary Meeting of the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) in Hong Kong from 28-30 April 2015. Professor Beckman made an invited presentation on ‘Sovereignty and Maritime Disputes in Southeast Asia: Implications for the Cable Industry’. To view his presentation in PDF format, click here.

CIL Research Fellow Denise Cheong was invited to speak at the Workshop on “National Ocean Environmental Contingency Plan in Asian Pacific States” on 27 April 2015 in Busan, Korea where she delivered a presentation on “National Ocean Environmental Contingency Plan in Asian Pacific States: The Singapore Perspective”. The Workshop was organised by Development of International Law in Asia (DILA-Asia) and The Institute for Legal Studies of INHA University, Korea. The Workshop was attended by academics from all over the Asia-Pacific Region as well as the United States and Canada. To download her presentation, click here.

CIL Director Robert Beckman presented a paper at the 2nd Conference on the South China Sea at Nanjing University in Nanjing, China on 24-25 April 2015. The Conference was jointly organised by the Centre on Asia and Globalisation of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS, and the Collaborative Innovation Centre for South China Sea Studies, Nanjing University. Professor Beckman’s paper was entitled “International Law and China’s Reclamation Works in the South China Sea”. For a copy of the draft paper, click here. For a copy of the PowerPoint Presentation, click here.

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

CIL Director Robert Beckman, CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr Hao Duy Phan, CIL Research Fellows Dr Sun Zhen, Leonardo Bernard and Junianto James Losari attended the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) in Washington DC on 8-11 April 2015. Dr Hao Duy Phan also judged at the International Round of the 2015 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, which was held in conjunction with the ASIL Annual Meeting.

CIL Director Robert Beckman gave a talk at Yale Law School on 7 April 2015 on International Law and the South China Sea Disputes.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr Hao Duy Phan was invited to speak at the Workshop on Maritime Security and the Marine Environment on 30 March 2015 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Hao Duy Phan delivered a presentation on ‘Global Regimes for Protection and Preservation of the Marine Environment: An Overview’. The Workshop was organised by the United States Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (USCSCAP) in conjunction with the Inter-Sessional Meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on Maritime Security. More than 50 participants from the ARF states attended the Workshop. To download his presentation, click here.

CIL Director Robert Beckman and CIL Senior Visiting Research Fellow Lynn Kuok participated in a two-day workshop co-organised by the National Institute for South China Sea Studies entitled “South China Sea: Duel Track Approach and Win-Win Cooperation” on 28-29 March 2015 in Hainan, China. Prof Beckman made a presentation in a panel on International Cooperation in Enclosed and Semi-Enclosed Seas. The Workshop was attended by Chinese Government officials and by scholars from China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Australia, Canada, the United States and Sweden. To view Prof Beckman’s presentation in PDF format, click here.

CIL Research Fellow Leonardo Bernard presented at the International Workshop on the Legal Aspects of the Establishment of the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf, held in Tokyo, Japan on 26-27 March 2015. The workshop was organised by the Japan Hydrographic Association and the Nippon Foundation. Leo was part of the third session on the Legal Regime of the Continental Shelf – Regional Experience, where he presented an overview of the maritime claims in the South China Sea. To view a photo from the event and access his presentation, click here.

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

CIL Research Fellow Leonardo Bernard participated in the International Seminar on Maritime Security in East Asia, held in Jakarta, Indonesia on 17 March 2015. The seminar was organised by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta. Leo was part of the panel on Managing Disputes: East China Sea, where he presented the legal perspective on the ongoing disputes in the East China Sea. To access his presentation, click here.

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

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

CIL 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.