Researchers' Activities

CIL Director Robert Beckman made a presentation in Jakarta, Indonesia on 17 March 2016 entitled ‘The Philippines v China Case and the South China Sea Disputes’. The one-day forum was organised by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) in collaboration with The Netherlands Embassy in Jakarta, and was entitled ‘ASEAN Dialogue on International Law: Strengthening the Rule of Law in the Region on International Law of the Sea’. For Prof Beckman’s presentation, click here.

IELPO LL.M Programme at Universitat de Barcelona re-invited CIL for the 4th time to teach its course on Asian Regionalism. CIL Research Fellow Junianto James Losari replaced Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow this year to teach the two-day-course on 9-10 March 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. In his course, James shared various stories of integration in Asia and discussed the main drivers of the integration, including trade and investment. He also focused on the ASEAN integration, which is considered as one of the most advanced integrations in the region.

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).

Professor Robert Beckman, Head of CIL’s Ocean Law and Policy Programme, participated in the 8th South China Sea International Conference organised by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, which was held on 14-15 November 2016 in Nha Trang, Viet Nam. Professor Beckman chaired a panel session on ‘Mechanisms for Managing South China Sea Tensions’ and made a presentation in the panel session on The Arbitral Award and Legal Implications for the Claims of Parties in the South China Sea. His presentation was entitled ‘The New Status Quo and Prospects for Cooperation in the South China Sea’. To see his PowerPoint presentation, click here.

The CIL Ocean Law and Policy team participated in the panel discussion on the marine environment chaired by Professor Robert Beckman at the 20th Anniversary Celebrations of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL), held at the National University of Singapore on 10 November 2016. The theme of the conference was ‘Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals – Environmental Law, Policy and Management’. The panel made the following three (3) presentations: (1) ‘The International Legal Framework for the Protection and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity’ by CIL Senior Research Fellow Ms Youna Lyons (2) ‘International Law and the Protection of the Giant Clams in the South China Sea’ by CIL Research Fellow Ms Denise Cheong (3) ‘IMO Measures to Protect Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction – The Sargasso Sea’ by CIL Research Fellow Dr Sun Zhen.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Mr Anthony Wetherall participated in the 22nd Biennial Congress of the International Nuclear Law Association (INLA). Mr Wetherall presented on the ‘Future Deployment of Transportable Nuclear Power Plants: Legal and Regulatory Issues and Challenges’, as jointly prepared by Mr Wetherall and Research Fellow Ms Denise Cheong based on ongoing research as part of the ESI-CIL Nuclear Governance Project. The Congress is a leading international conference on legal issues relating to peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The conference was held from 7 to 11 November 2016 and hosted by the Nuclear Law Association in New Delhi, India. To download Mr Wetherall’s presentation, click here.

CIL Research Fellow Dr Zhen Sun participated in the Conference on Ocean Issues for the Pacific and East Asia. The conference was hosted by the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong, Australia and Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), the Republic of Korea, on 2-4 November 2016 in Wollongong, Australia. The conference was attended by around 30 participants of academics and PhD students. Dr Sun presented on ‘Polar Code and Its Implementation in the Panel on New Frontiers’. To view her presentation, click here.

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.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Ms Youna Lyons participated in the 70th Session of the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), at the IMO Headquarters in London, from 24-28 October 2016, as the Head of Delegation of the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS).